I tried a collograph this week. Here is the start using a mat board backing and some textures of papers and cloth. Dried weeds from the dam walk and thick card stock for the rocks.
Added a bit and then covered with PVA glue.
Then gessoed to seal it all in while adding a bit more texture to the rocks.
A good coat of shellac.
Inked up and ready to go.
Pitiful print is the result.
The thing I learned here is that collographs take time, lots of time. Especially if you are using different colors. There is a finesse to the process that needs to be learned before you squash the plate completely flat.
And with Lee slipping a bit more this week I have no time to practice this. I have cleaned up the glass plate of mixed colors and am taking a really hard look at whether I really want to bother with this. What you see here is the third print…the first two just awful….one too wet….one too dry. And I think that to do it more precisely I need to use extra cushion between the roller and felts….more felts would be smart. Also a very lightly dampened paper might be another good idea.
The three I did get printed could get stitched into with cloth….if they don’t end up in the bin.
Things just are not looking like you think they should. For example my latest attempt at a new picture of myself.
It is a rather dull light when I look in the mirror each morning to “fix things up”. Then I step into the light. So today I decided to update my picture….my “selfie” so to speak. All I can say is no wonder my niece thought I looked like her grandmother, my own mother. I really thought I was younger….but seventy-five is beginning to show.
Or one without the bags under the eye.
And one more thing. We found this brand new 19 Crimes wine in the store while looking for the Hard Chard which by the way hits you a bit like battery acid if you drink it as cold as you think you should drink a chardonnay. …better when closer to room temperature.
But this new sauvignon blanc cleverly called “block” is very good. And the story of Mr. Michael Moore convict is nice as well….”I used to make chains in Ireland, in Australia I wore them…..”
Til later when I have something more exciting than a new wine.