This spring, when we were all self-isolating, I signed up for British artist Tara Leaver's Free Up Your Art. Not sure if it still is but, at the time, the week-long course was offered for free. Just want to take a moment here to thank artists who share their techniques and experience so generously – it’s a marvel to see their inspiring work and pick up tips and advice with a click of a mouse. (Must admit, I still use a computer mouse and one with a cord, no less!)
Tara is a painter, not a printmaker, and her style is very different from mine but I found her approach so enviable. It’s loose and spontaneous and I want to bring more of that to my own work. One of the lessons during the week was to draw quickly and not overthink things (above). Another was to draw with a long stick. I had a box of Conte (drawing crayons made with a mix of graphite and clay) I’d never used. I attached a crayon to a tough stalk from the garden, put my sketchbook on the floor (I used a page where I’d already glued dress-making pattern tissue) and attempted to draw some tulips.
A side benefit from taking the course was a push to actually try out art supplies I’d bought and never used. One of those supplies was an inexpensive bottle of sumi ink (a very black ink made from soot and used in traditional Japanese calligraphy). After taking the free course I signed up for a month’s access to Tara’s other courses and, smitten with her drawing with an eyedropper (think Tara would call it a pipette), I gave it a try myself.
The tags shown in the last post gave way to filling some
small concertina (or accordion) books I’d folded and had on hand. A few of them
were left over from attempting a bit of rust printing where you take metal
items (I used old washers and other flat bits and bobs I had in the studio) and
sandwich them in damp printmaking paper. Nothing much happened for me other than some
brownish discolouration here and there and I didn’t pursue the rust printing –
although I’ve seen some fascinating results on the internet.
In the next photo there’s a close-up of the rust marks.
Here's a short video of another concertina.
And then I tried going larger, which was actually easier to do. These are 5x7-inches.
I like to add a small image to the back of the cards. And sometimes I mat and frame them.
