M6. Ch6. Print Making with Foam Sheets

I enjoyed this chapter more than the last, can't give a reason why, maybe because I just got on with it.  I have used fun foam before to make print blocks as method 2 but not method 1(although I have done that with polystyrene) so I was interested to see how it worked.  I liked the results although I did keep cleaning the grooves, maybe I was too enthusiastic with the paint.

First I experimented with different fabric and acrylic paints.  I didn't like the acrylic at all but found different fabric paints worked differently with different backgrounds.  My photos really don't show the backgrounds very well at all, most are much darker.  It was a dull day so probably not enough light indoors but flash just makes reflections.  I have just started a photography course so hope to get a better understanding of cameras soon.

 Years ago I bought a printing block where you make an imprint into the foam and when you've finished it goes flat again.  (Any ideas how you do that, I don't have the instructions any more!)  I've hardly used it.

 The transparent setacolour on tissue only really showed up when I stuck it on the window so

 I changed to opaque.

 I like this one, lots of colour, although the pink stripe through the middle is a bit too dark.  The background is strips of tissue.

 I found a brown (yes, really brown) bottle bag which I cut to make a long strip to print which was fun to do, then waved it to take a photo.

M6.Ch5 Repeats

I used this chapter as a means of getting back into the work after a long break.  Having done the first activity I thought I had finished and started to blog only to discover I'd only done a quarter!  So it took a long time to do it all.

A.6.5.1.  Templates.  Here are the templates I used, although I did find the simpler ones easier and found I was simplifying them as I went.

Both the leaves and wall seemed to suggest lines so that is why so many of my pictures turned out long.  This is walnut ink background with soft pastels.

This one is ink based paints, lovely and bright. 

 
 I used a water colour background for the first picture and ink based paints for the second, not sure which I like best, it must depend on what next.  I used thick acrylic for the stones.  I like the different shades of grey better.

 I still like my dandelion clock.  I did make another picture with it, white crayon on black, overlapping the shapes but seem to have lost it.  Rather like the pink though, Sharpie on water colour.

 I like this too, water colour with Inktense veins.  Couldn't decide on a background so didn't put one in, again think it depends on its use.

 A.6.5.2.  Cutouts.  The first two are tissue paper arranged on khadi paper then acrylic wash.

 For this picture I just dropped the tissues shapes onto a large piece of tissue paper to make a random pattern.

 I liked the idea of newspaper for the wall.  They worked better close together. The backgrounds look very pale compared with the real colours.

                                      

 A.6.5.3.  Using a grid.  I first drew too small a grid so the leaf shape disappears.

 These two are better and I like the irregular grid.

 A.6.5.4.  Transparent sheets.  I chose the wrong motifs for this exercise so I'm not very happy with the results.

 I felt the simpler shapes worked better, ie. the grass and leaves, so traced them separately and used them for moving on.

 Because I traced them I used thin paper so decided to use pastels, then needed a background and used watercolour which messed up the paper!  The first is just pen cut up followed by oil pastel.  Then soft pastel and lastly coloured pencils.  I like the last best, especially with the pen outline.