Printmakers: Instructional videos are two-a-penny but not on this subject and not with this level of clarity. Acrylic sheets may not be everyone’s choice but are fairly cheap and can be sent for recycling.
It is possible to do intaglio printmaking with simple equipment and Handprinted have produced instructions for exactly that using the X-Cut Express (die cutter beloved of card makers and some printmakers). Drypoint printing being an intaglio process requires more pressure than relief print but good results are possible. I have also used sticky-back aluminium foil stuch down on acrylic sheet then engraved using a rounded tip tool so as not to tear into the foil.
Maria, 20×22 cm drypoint on handmade paper.Martin, 20x25cm drypoint Brian, 20x25cm, drypoint
Having used a number of cheap box picture frames (IKEA and Hobbycraft) for textile pieces (examples in this blog early 2024) I have lots of small acrylic sheets as I don’t generally want them at the front of the box frames for displaying textured and heavily embellished work. Although I have noticed that many textile artists do use frames with glass or acrylic. Same issue with impasto painting I think.
“The use of impasto became more or less compulsory in modern art as the view took hold that the surface of a painting should have its own reality rather than just being a smooth window into an illusionist world beyond. With this went the idea that the texture of paint and the shape of the brushmark could themselves help to convey feeling, that they are a kind of handwriting that can directly express the artist’s emotions or response to the subject. A painting in which impasto is a prominent feature can also said to be painterly.
This term carries the implication that the artist is revelling in the manipulation of the paint itself and making the fullest use of its sensuous properties.”
Tate Modern, Art Terms
Window at Artigo, Gloucester Road, Bristol, 2024
One thing these acrylic sheets can be used for is drypoint (intaglio) printmaking and the process is simple, although you do need a press of some sort. I have a X-Cut Express which are mostly used for card making and some relief printmaking but will do a reasonable intaglio job.
X-Cut Express
Something to make a mark on the acrylic sheet is essential, etching tools but only the simplest are needed.
There is a good explanation – and so much more! – of the process at Handprinted blog which is a wonderful instructive resource, they also run courses in the physical world.
I use Akua waterbased inks as they are easy to manage at home, modestly priced. Each print only uses a tiny amount of ink, far more gets wiped from the plate during inking it.
The image is scratched onto the acrylic plate, the print will be the reverse. When the plate is done to satisfaction a test print is taken, then the plate can be cleaned and further incision made as desired…. repeat until satisfaction.
The paper I used was Somerset and was the reverse of old prints I have kept from Uni. Soak the paper and allow excess water to run off so that the damp paper will receive ink, this part is variable and it’s a good idea to make notes. Trial and error but the paper can be quite expensive.
The apparent smudges in this print are actually shadows, as the print dried hanging on the fridge door it needs to be pressed flat.
As long as the printing process is followed carefully it isn’t necessary to use a great deal of pressure and the X-Cut is simple to use and adjust but I still managed to try a bit too hard and cracked the plate! Live and learn.
Simple pieces of work are often the most satisfying I find. This little sketch was one of several made for a pop-up card for my grandson Sam on the occasion of his seventh birthday a few years ago.
Inspiration can come from anywhere as we all know, I found a little this morning in the pics posted on Facebook by Sarah Ross-Thompson, a Fine Art Printmaker, specialising in colourful landscape collagraphs. She modestly says, “oh I would never claim to be a photographer. Just a point and press on the iPad.”
Pictures by Sarah Ross-Thompson, printmaker extraordinaire, find her on Facebook
I have many scraps of nunofelt made years ago, mostly used for doll costumes and seeing Sarah’s snaps inspired me to stitch and embellish some of them. Just getting started.
The Oil quilt consists of four panels made up of about 80 squares of 20 x 20 cm, printed, painted, drawn, embellished, stitched and embroidered in various ways. I’m finding it hard to finish, the desire to add more detail is strong but almost certainly misguided. Better to work on another piece I think.
Oil quilt, detail, approx 70 x 35 cm
This detail is from the upper left of the second panel, it feels topical. The quilt as a whole seems to be a polemic.
Oil quilt detail, approx 70 x 35 cm
This second detail is from same panel, lower right.
Most of the work for this quilt was complete months ago but current events are spurring me to finish. I’m mainly adding borders at the moment but there will be more work after that, pens and stitch and some discharge paste to remove colour in a few places. It can be hard to know when to stop! The original poem was written long ago, it’s on this site in artist’s book form.
Anti-art was a term adopted by the COBRA group of artists who formed in Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam in 1945, as WW2 in Europe ended, a reaction to the horrors just experienced. Some of their work is at the Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amsterdam, well worth a visit if you are in that great city, I found it inspiring. The label anti-art for works that end up in art galleries is a good place to start a discussion about what is art (yawn) because as soon as a gallery is involved or the works are sold then it must become art of some sort. Perhaps if they had kept the work to themselves the group would have been labelled as producers of Art Brut, a form which doesn’t seek public approval or sales, generally.
There is a documentary currently (October 2023) on BBC iPlayer about the Dada movement, closely associated with anti-art.
This fabric work which I last posted about in June is based on the OIL poem I wrote in 2010 at the height of the USA ‘surge’ in Iraq, the poem in artist’s book form is here.
Although the bulk of the work is done there is still plenty to do and my progress through the summer has been slow – I have to wait for ideas and they don’t seem to come as often as they once did.
OIL quilt panel, one of four, work in progress
The imagery is ‘busy’ with lots going on, but I feel it could be busier still, and darker, more painterly. I’m still thinking about the border(s), those will take almost as much time as the panels and like all framing they will have a big impact on the final piece.
Linda and Laura Kemshall are well known artist quilters of the highest standard, their book, The Painted Quilt (2007) is one I refer to frequently, especially for printing advice and although my style and content is far from theirs I aspire to the standards they achieve.
I’ve also found their sketchbook ideas inspirational and highly practical, design is at the heart of what they do. My own sketches, scans, screen grabs, pics and notes tend to build into massive files on my Mac and eventually deleted but some get saved on paper or cloth.
Fukushima is in the news again, as it will be periodically for the rest of your life and beyond. This time it’s for starting to dump toxic water into the Pacific, with partial blessing of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who are trying to hedge their bets, or just lying through their teeth. And a Netflix drama series about the 2011 events.
Anyway I thought I might re-post the piece I made for my Masters degree.
Welcome to Fukushima – kimono front, fabric, printed and embellished, 2m x 2m, 2018.Welcome to Fukushima – kimono rear, printed and embellished fabric, 2m x 2m, 2018
I have managed to lose most of the files, sketches, notes, images &c. I collected for the project and for the rest of the MA, probably when I moved home, twice.
My overall feeling about this piece is that I would like it to be darker and with bigger and bolder images, but at the time of making I was thinking of the confusion surrounding the 2011 events, and a recent visit to the COBRA museum, Amsterdam https://cobra-museum.nl/ where the anti-art movement of Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam (post World War Two) is displayed.
This little fabric print was made with a simple stencil, I made lots but didn’t use them. Came across it this morning and thought I would add a border. The impression of a face was entirely accidental.
I went to London recently for a few days, visiting the galleries. The outstanding expo was at the Barbican – Into The Night where you may, “Explore the history of cabarets, cafés and clubs in modern art across the world, from London to Paris, Mexico City, Tehran, and Ibadan”. A large show with lots of inspiring images.
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