Monday, October 09, 2006

New (mono)Prints

Recently I opened up my charcoal box. I have not opened it since December 2003; the last time I had a drawing class with Joel. I smelled the inside and all of a sudden a wave of old memories came back. I grabbed a stick and put it to paper. A wave of euphoria came over me and I quickly sketched the first four prints below. It felt so good. I only have one stick of charcoal left, so next time I go back to LaCrosse, I'll have to get some new charcoal blessed.

So, below are some new prints. They make me nervous and I think that is probably a good thing. I don't understand them yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

What do ya think?







9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wil give you a new box when you visit

Unknown said...

Your new monoprints have a haunting and intoxicating appeal. Very expressive. Really nice series of monoprints!

mark phelan said...

nice. very ethereal. are we a little preoccupied with mortality? i know i am lately. porbably cuz i'm getting on to the big four oh in a bit tho...

kare said...

thank you for the update mandy, i will look into it, i do miss you. i am extremely happy.
how are you printing these amazing works?

lost said...

these are really dark and eiry.... i like em. like karen, i'm a little confused as to how you accomplished them? did you add the charcoal after printing or before?

M said...

okay...the secrets revealed....

BEWARE: don't do this infront of Joel.

Process:
1 Plexi glass 1/8" thick
1 tsp black bone ink
1 tsp crimson red
1 tsp oil (burnt plate #003) or
veggie oil, linseed oil.
1 tsp turps
1 roller
1 brush
1 rag

Roll out black ink until sound is like a little hiss.

Roll black ink all over plexi.

Take rag and wipe out image wanted.

Use brush to brush black ink back on where needed. If ink is hard to push around add a little bit of oil.

Brush on red ink where desired. Add oil if needed.

To make splatters add turps to ink and spray onto plate with the brush hairs.

print onto dampened paper

when printed there should be a ghost image. I usually go back onto the ghost images and rework them. I find that reworking a ghost is also a great way to create new images. It's a really fun and experimental process. Accidents are frequent and good.

Beware...don't add too much oil or turps to the ink or it will bleed.


No charcoal involved....that was just used as a preliminary sketch.

For the faces I used BFK tan printing paper.

I used the same process as above but instead of using black...I used white, red, grey, and dark brown.

A lot of the texture I get is from fingerprints, smudging with fingers,
adding turps ontop of the ink when it is on the plate.

It's all about feeling the way the ink goes onto the plate, and anticipating what the press might do to the print during printing.

Anonymous said...

ballzy

Katherine Godwin said...

so ooooo amazing.

lost said...

brilliant!