Autumn Leaves - Monotype Print

Handpulled Monotype 8cm x 24cm
Red Ochre oil based ink on cream paper

This print evolved through three steps. I inked a plexiglass plate and arranged leaves and plants I had picked up on my morning walk. I covered the plate with foil and pressed it in a book press. The first 'print' was a fun negative image on silver. I then ran the plate with the leaves still in place through the etching press and while the leaves embossed nicely there was still too much ink on the plate and the print was crude. Disappointed, I started lifting the leaves to clean the plate. That was when I discovered a delicate image traced on the plate. Through the etching press once more and above is the final result. You can click the image for more detail.

Collegiata di San Giuliano Print

Collograph Print in Raw Umber
image 14 x 21 cm on cream Grafia paper

This collograph was built up from shapes I cut out of textured Fabriano drawing paper and glued to my original sketch on a piece of mat board. The plate was then coated with several layers of acrylic medium and inked with oil based ink, wiped with talatan cloth and newsprint and run through the etching press.

Everything I've learned about collographs has been gleaned from artist/printmaker Belinda del Pesco. Belinda has generously posted a series of step-by-step demonstrations on collographs on her blog. She is a never-ending source of inspiration.

Collagraphs and Monotypes of Italian Subjects

Corso Italia Collagraph Print 14 x 22 cm

This handpulled collagraph print was developed from a sketch I made in the historic centre of our Tuscan village, Castiglion Fiorentino.

A reversed scan of my original sketch was transferred to a piece of cardboard and the outlines carved out with a sharp blade. Additional texture was made by gluing plastic net, tissue paper and pieces of scrap watercolour paper to the plate. The plate was then coated with Acrylic gloss medium and varnish and inked with black oil based etching ink. Areas of ink were wiped away before printing on C.M. Fabriano 100 percent cotton paper using an etching press.

I'm a big fan of the beautiful monotypes of Martin Stankewitz which he prints with oil paints. Since I have quite a stock of oils and have decided it's not one of my favourite mediums for painting, I got quite excited about the possibility of using up my paint for monotypes. Below is my first effort.

Venice Lagoon with San Giorgio Maggiore 8.5 x 10cm monotype

After this experiment, I'm even more excited about the potential of monotypes in oil paints. This photograph doesn't do justice to the beautiful silky finish of the paint on the paper and the result is much more painterly than I can achieve on canvas because painting onto a plexiglass plate, I don't get caught up in too much detail.

It's a lot of work for one unique print but I think I'm hooked.

Hat Rack - Collagraph with watercolour

Original collagraph print with watercolour - 10.5 x 25 cms

Original collagraph print with watercolour - 10.5 x 25 cmsOriginal collagraph print with watercolour - 10.5 x 25 cms

The plate for this collograph was carved out of a piece of thick cardboard then sealed with Acrylic Gloss Medium and Varnish. Each print was hand-wiped with oil-based ink and then run through an etching press.

Hand painted limited edition of three different hand-coloured prints
Printed in black oil based Charbonnel etching ink on
Fabriano 100% cotton paper 17.5 x 33 cms

This is my first collagraph. I was inspired by the beautiful prints of artist/printmaker Belinda del Pesco who so generously shares her collagraph technique on her blog here.

The coat/hat stand we bought at a street market here in Tuscany. The hat is a white panama from Venice. After sketching the hat on the stand, I scanned my drawing and reduced it in size before tracing onto the cardboard plate. I've used some of my favourite colour combinations - Magenta/Sepia, Quinacridone Gold/Indigo and French Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Sienna to paint the hats.

Petunias Linoprint

Petunias - linoprint image 15cm x 17cm
paper 28cm x 28cm

I've just finished a companion linoprint of Petunias to go with my earlier Cyclamen print.

Detail Petunias Print

I planted these magenta petunias last September prior to my daughter coming to visit. They flowered in boxes on our tiny bridge well into the winter. About to throw them away in the early spring, I noticed a tiny leaf amongst the dead brown stems. I chopped them right back and left them in the garden with no great expectations and couldn't have been more delighted when they re-bloomed and now they are just as abundant as there were last year. Maybe I'm finally developing a green thumb - or it could just be a spot of paint!

Cyclamen Relief Print

Cyclamen Relief Print 15 x 17 cm

I'm going to stop being a snob about art materials. I recently bought some Japanese Relief Printing Vinyl from Intaglio Printmaker in London but was really expecting it not to be as good as traditional lino. I thought it would probably look like a rubber stamp. Guess what? It cut like butter. I was able to make much finer and sharper marks than I can in lino. My tools kept their edge. It took the oil-based etching ink like a dream. Finally, I was able to run it through the etching press without using tracks. It prints the ink as smooth as velvet. I guess you can tell I'm sold. Now I need a purist to tell me if I can still call this a lino print.

Japanese relief printing vinyl - double sided.

The vinyl block has a black core which makes it very easy to see the progress of the cutting.

Printed on Magnani paper

Print with model

We've had three pots of cyclamen miraculously blooming on our kitchen windowsill right through winter. The windowsill never gets any sun. Nothing else wants to live there. As Spring arrived so did a pigeon that proceeded to decapitate every single bloom on the red cyclamen. We removed it. The pigeon started on the pink flowers. He/she seemed just to be dropping the blooms on the ground two storeys below. Then I started finding them under the building opposite where the pigeons roost in the roof. I still don't know if the flowers were being used in a courting ritual, for nest decoration, food or whether it is a wilful act of vandalism. Does anyone know?

We gave in finally and moved the surviving plants to the garden terrace where I sketched them for the relief print.

White Line Duck Print

Eggs Get Broken - Even in Tuscany
White line woodcut printed in watercolour 20 x 25cm

I was recently photographing ducks at our friends, Jean & Aziz's olive farm near Cortona which inspired this woodcut print. I have a thing for ducks with their beautiful shining white feathers and pale blue eggs.

The Woodblock painted with watercolour prior to printing.
Edition limited to 1 print only

Detail of print with pattern embossed by the etching press.

Detail of Tuscan landscape with duckweed

Ducks are much on my mind today because I was reading the sweet but sad story of Jeanette Jobson's favourite duck, Buddy. You can find photos and the legend of Buddy's life here on Janette's blog.

Vase Still Life - Watercolour woodcut print

9.5 x 10.5cm Watercolour woodcut & monotype print

The Monotype Print

The plywood engraved and painted block after printing

This is the end of the test images. Now I'm going to work on a larger block.

If you would like to know more about the process, and see the incredibly beautiful prints of Australian artist/printmaker Cressida Campbell, you can will find it all on her website HERE.