The Sacrament of the Mundane

Tap, tap, morning dear child

rap, tap, come along child

step, step, help you child

up, up, down, down, dressing you child

ping, ping, porridge my child

ting, ting, tea my child

knock, knock, nanny’s child

Then I’m gone, silent child.

Movie poster redo

having a go at redoing our favourite movies as a signal image.

Very fond of Play Time (1965) as a number of continual line drawing. When you watch the film you will understand; seeing each image move into each other.

In the jar piece

Butterfly In a Jar
Captured your body, holding your naive mind.

Captured your love, holding you for a time.
Little angel in a jar

Can’t stay here, can’t go far.
Let you go your flitting demands,

I went and destroyed all your plans
Sad and broken butterfly,

Stay and watch the world go by.
By

Seraphim Bryant

Collagraphy (sometimes spelled collography) is a printmaking process in which materials are applied to a rigid substrate (such as paperboard or wood). The word is derived from the Greek word koll or kolla, meaning glue, and graph, meaning the activity of drawing.

The plate can be intaglio-inked, inked with a roller or paintbrush, or some combination thereof. Ink or pigment is applied to the resulting collage, and the board is used to print onto paper or another material using either a printing press or various hand tools. The resulting print is termed a collagraph. Substances such as carborundum, acrylic texture mediums, sandpapers, bubble wrap, string, cut card, leaves and grass can all be used in creating the collagraph plate. In some instances, leaves can be used as a source of pigment by rubbing them onto the surface of the plate.

Different tonal effects and vibrant colours can be achieved with the technique due to the depth of relief and differential inking that results from the collagraph plate’s highly textured surface. Collagraphy is a very open printmaking method. Ink may be applied to the upper surfaces of the plate with a brayer for a relief print, or ink may be applied to the entire board and then removed from the upper surfaces but remain in the spaces between objects, resulting in an intaglio print. A combination of both intaglio and relief methods may also be employed. A printing press may or may not be used.

My attempt is part of my FMP. It is an illustration of a butterfly wing.

Alessandra Marie: Artist

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Alessandra attended the Pratt Institute where she graduated in 2012 but remaining in New York where she currently lives and works. It’s been a pleasure to see her style evolve and to see her art embraced into the eyes of countless viewers and I’ve always wanted to sit down and talk to her about all of it. She has gained a lot of recognition though interview, blogs and social media which I guess is a sign of the times.

All her works are with coffee stain, ink and pencil then Alessandra adds gold leaf details. This creates these wonderful dreamy pieces with an almost art nouveau feel I think.

My favourite interview answer when asked about her work :

Alessandra: Well – I don’t work with color! It’ll start to come in eventually (in certain areas), but my mind doesn’t work like a painters’ does. I see and compose work in terms of pattern, as opposed to light.. At first I perceived it as a serious disadvantage, but now I’ve found that it enables me to overcome some obstacles in interesting ways. It goes back to that Picasso quote, “If you have five elements available, use only four. If you have four elements, use three.” You can’t keep the intention of the piece pure if you’re too focused on balancing a bunch of irrelevant parts.

And yeah, Klimt was where the initial idea for gold came from! Growing up, my grandparents had some lovely Japanese lacquer boxes with gold that were great too.. I’ve always thought they were beautiful, and the execution on them inspired the work as well.

Having a go myself was going to be a challenge. I didn’t have gold leaf so I just used metallic pens to match the iridescence. I have to say learning to control and predict what the coffee stains would do took several test attempts.

My attempts:

Final piece…

Using Ink

There are many pens on the market that you can choose from. Or if you are the adventurous type you may decide to make your own from feathers the way our forefathers did. You might also try different sticks, reeds, bamboo or other exotic materials. The crow quill dip pens and metal replacement points are still a good choice.

Many companies manufacture India Ink and the quality of each depends on the process used by each company. India Ink is a mixture of water, carbon black (lampblack) and a binder of shellac, latex and other binding materials. The finer the lampblack usually the more flowing the ink. It is also very important that use choose ink that is not water soluble unless that is a planned part of your work. I use inks that are classified as permanent and good for all surfaces. Ask your local arts supply or an artist in your community what they use.

My attempt . I used 3×0/.25mm, and 00/.30mm, nibs.

Some good help I found off the internet.

Line and Value

With this media line is the most important tool you have. The closer the line the darker the drawing looks. Inversely the farther apart your line the lighter the drawing looks. Let’s take a closer look at each of these styles.

First lets look at the straight line and the effects that this can create.

Horizontal line (example A) can create the illusion of movement from side to side. This effect can be used to create the illusion of motion or reflection in the water.
	Vertical line (example B) can create the illusion of movement up and down. It can also convey the feeling of distance and atmospheric conditions.
Diagonal line (example C) can create the illusion of rotation like a planet. It generally denotes roundness and mass.

Each of these styles also mimic old-fashioned wood or line cut prints in their appearance. Illusion is not only the purlieu of magicians but also that of the artist. Making an object look three dimensional on a flat piece of paper is almost magical but it is not. It is just a matter of perception, the way in which we see.

In example “D” we are starting a crosshatching process and right now this drawing looks pretty flat. As we add lines as in example “E” the illusion of roundness begins to come through. The more and closer the line the more the illusion seems real. However one of the more important personal tools you can have is, knowing when to stop and how much to add.

Example “F” is just about right, however notice how example “G” is much more effective in illustrating roundness than example “F”. This is a contoured crosshatch drawing. It is contoured in two directions and creates a better illusion of roundness.

Tag: ink