This week I made some sky.
This is one of my favorite methods of hand printmaking: organic, filling a large piece of yardage by print-move-print-move-repeat printing, and creating an ethereal, watercolor-like allover pattern.
Time to get started
I’ve got my jars of paint ready to roll, and a vinyl cover over my workspace. I put a second piece of smaller vinyl on top and I’ll use that as my palette: mixing right on the tabletop.
I scoop out my paints a few teaspoonfuls at a time, mixing just what I need for a project. My plan was to make a neutral grey. The best way to mix beautiful neutrals is to mix across the complements. Here, I made some orange to mix into my cerulean blue. Then add just a bit of white.
(You will notice that in the finished fabric this has turned out more blue than grey. That’s because as I was mixing I changed my mind. Adding just that little bit of orange to the blue made a nice hue, so I decided to go with that color. But I decided to share how to create a more neutral grey just in case you would like to give that a try.)
Now to print.
I have rolled the paint out onto my gelatin printing plate, and I’m pressing the fabric down into the color with my hands. After a little gentle rubbing, I pull the fabric off.
By now you may have noticed in the photos that my printing plate is not pristine and blemish-free. True. This is a homemade plate which I have had for at least two years. Unlike the commercial plates, after a lot of use, a homemade plate will begin to show some wear and tear. It may create bubbles and cracks.
I love these imperfections1 They create the most interesting organic splotches, which I don’t t think I could create any other way. Here’s how my current plate is printing on paper:
And here’s the fabric I just printed this week for my watercolor-look sky.
I am excited about my plans for this fabric, and in the next few weeks I will share more about the work in which I’ll use it.
But for now, it’s time to CLEAN MY STUDIO! I’ve got visitors coming next week for the DeLand-Area Studio Tour.
If you are near Central Florida, I hope you will come to DeLand, plan an itinerary to visit all or some of our 29 artists, and – especially—I hope you will visit my studio. I’ll have lots of finished work to share. And you can peak behind-the-scenes to see how work is made.
Find me at stop #2. See you there!
For all of us: focus each day
on the good that needs to be done in the world.
Be part of doing it.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi