Monotype backgrounds in copper (31 January 2021)

I always have a stack of single-layer prints that I set up to be backgrounds to later opaque prints.  Here are some of those.  Metallic copper is lovely...

Monotype morning in yellow (31 January 2021)

Beyond yellow ochre, I don't use yellow much.  So, this was a chance to address that.  (I also wanted to finish off a tube from the 90s, which was chunky and so had some unique characteristics in addition to its opacity.)

Monotype morning (30 January 2021)

It was time to play with shades of green.  I adore greens in watercolors, but have been slow to mix them in acrylics, so I'm glad to have forced myself to try them.

Photo filter playtime

I can see why people play with filters, but....  I'm not really sure what to do with them.  I already have alternative photographic processes already to have fun with wild colors, so this 'takes the edge off' that need that these might otherwise fill?

The windmill does look pretty sweet, though.

Spring in my neglected garden

Monotype mornings are the best mornings

I've been cutting paper shapes during breaks during the workweek; I was ready when I woke up early this morning to get going with opaque monotype printing on my recently cleaned gel plate.  Yellow ochre works into many of my painting projects, so it worked into most of these prints today.  (It is slightly less opaque than I expected when mixed with metallic gold or titanium buff.  Now that I am using a range of acrylic viscosities, it's useful to notice that.)  The images at the lower right are just the paper I used to keep my roller clean. :)

I'm trying to patiently let the 30 or so in this set dry before I start plotting out the next session.  It's likely I'll cut more shapes today, however.

It's fun to try to use the roller to make patterns, rather than just spreading paint evenly.  

[Long ramble about opacity and how I can justify buying even more paint omitted, because you can't stop me! :D ]

Dutch stamp collage

Monotype Monday

Rusted and cracked

Delicate cups

Straight path

Tender green forest floor

This may not look exciting to you, but that means you live in a state where it RAINS.  That doesn't happen often here, and when it does, the fresh growth is entrancing...

Trees in fog

I don't need to admit that I took about 100 photos like this today.

Red-orange floral burst

Fancy old US stamps

I hadn't heard of Clara Maass, but Wikipedia says she gave informed consent in a study involving yellow fever-carrying mosquitos, and... it didn't go well.

Bell pepper fist

Monotype printing day

I've been making monotype prints for a while now.  I usually use opaque paints to make prints on black paper: I enjoy the bold contrasts and deep colors that approach gives me.  

After some planning (and restocking with transparent acrylics), I decided to branch out.  Transparent layers on white paper are also fun!  The thinner emulsion (Golden Open, in bottles) also lifts more easily, so it is easier to make patterns in it with tools.  I used every sheet of paper in the pad, and then played around a bit more with leftover paper from another project.

This was a good way to relax after recovering from a migraine AND having to do a bit of office work!

Gray on gray inspiration

I am one of those people who likes subtle, abstract paintings.  It feels inevitable that you will eventually see a gray/white layered painting from me based on this, and on eucalyptus bark and leaves generally.   (Photo taken on 01/09/21.)

Naturally shaped (not pollarded)

Eucalyptus (from Australia) are a popular tree in California, despite their habit of exploding when they catch fire.  (This is an ISSUE in this new, more flame-filled era.)  They are tall and lovely, and smell nice.  This particular one is also very naturally shaped (relatively unpruned) and perhaps young.  

We pollard certain kinds of trees here (cut them back rather violently to near the main trunk), and that can result in some dramatic regrowth, which is what the older trees in the back show in certain sections.  New, tree-shaped branches grow from the cuts, and since these trees are already prone to looking like multiple trees that start at different heights, that characteristic becomes rather dramatic.  At a certain point, it feels RISKY to walk below a tree with many trees branching out of it over your head.  

But this one feels smooth and safe.  (Photo taken on 01/09/21.)

Cherry red

Such gorgeous reds and oranges in this bark... (Photo taken on 01/09/21.)

Monotype printmaking continued

I am happier than a clam.  Not that the idiomatic expression about clams has ever made sense.  

Making textures

Unofficial test prints.  The first and third images are the same print in slightly different lighting.  These will likely each wind up as the first layer to a two or three layer print, and so may never be seen in this form again.

Monotype on vellum (testing)

Architecture school involved lots of translucent papers, especially drafting vellum.  I still love translucency, and decided to try monotype printing (using a gel plate) with drafting vellum.  (Note: this is a cotton product - there is no calf skin involved, I'm not THAT old timey.)  It is nice to see the plate through the paper, and I find the air bubble textures, where the vellum resists the paint, interesting.