Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 46

There were a few days last October with warm temperatures, bright afternoons, and some bits of foliage here and there that were damaged but still whole, so I fit in one last fresh foliage printmaking session. I again combined the wet cyanotype process with solar dyes. Above is a panel of American elm leaves, before exposure, and below are some pokeweed stems.

I also found some tendrils of fox grape that were suitable.

And finished out with one last honey locust print.

Here they are after exposure and before rinsing out. I was using up my available stock of chemicals, so applied everything somewhat whimically.

They are looking very promising at this stage.

I like the way the two processes bleed into each other.

Here are the finished prints. I like the color transitions on this elm print.

These two, the pokeweed and the fox grape, really draw your attention inward.

And the locust print is fairly straightforward. Sometimes that's what's needed in a larger composition, and stitching will further enhance it.

I've been working with cyanotype since 2002, and with the wet cyanotype process since the summer of 2017. All the wet cyan posts, of which this is number 46, where I document my experiments in detail, are available in reverse chronological order by clicking the "Wet Cyanotype" tab in the header bar, or by going here.

And a reminder that you can also follow along on your social media of choice:
Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/suerenostudio
Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/suereno
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Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 45

I'm welcoming in the new year by continuing to catch up on prints I made towards the end of last year. Making prints from plants growing around my new home was a good way to familiarize myself with my new environment and fine tune my new studio setup.

First up in this batch is a stem of milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. Ordinarily I would let it be, as a food source for invertebrates, but it was positioned in a portion of the garden that needed to be renovated so I sacrificed it to the printmaking gods.

For these prints I once again worked in a process I had experimented with last year, combining wet cyanotype with solar dye printing, specifically Jacquard's Solarfast. Above is the fabric before exposure, and below after a short stint in the sun under plastic. 

Here is a section of wild grape/fox grape, Vitis labrusca, also in progress.

Next I did some leaflets of honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos.

And two panels of American elm, Ulmus americana, which I have never worked with before.

Here are the prints after exposure but before being rinsed out.

Sometimes if I do everything just right, I can retain brushstroke marks from the Solarfast.

These looked very promising!

Here are the final prints. The milkweed is fairly straightforward, red and blue.

This grape leaf print turned out beautifully, and is currently on my design wall awaiting my further attentions.

I'm also very pleased with the locust print.

And ditto for the elms. Aside from the milkweed, which is about 12" x 16", these are all larger panels, 20ish by 40ish. I'm enjoying the larger format.

And there you have it! I feel like combining the two processes is moving from "experimental" to "getting a handle on it".

If you are new here, I've been working with cyanotype since 2002, and with the wet cyanotype process since the summer of 2017. All the wet cyan posts, of which this is number 45, where I document my experiments in detail, are available in reverse chronological order by clicking the "Wet Cyanotype" tab in the header bar, or by going here.

And a reminder that you can also follow along on your social media of choice:
Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/suerenostudio
Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/suereno
Tumblr: http://suerenostudio.tumblr.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sue_reno_studio/

Experiments in wet cyanotype - part 44

More wet cyanotype antics from back in September, as I continued to explore my new environment and break in my new studio space. The subject in these first two, however, is an old friend. Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, was the subject of the first cyanotype print I ever made, back in 2002. I turned it into an art quilt that I am as happy with today as the day I finished it. It's bordered in Mysore silks. 

One of the lovely things about this plant is the beautiful color that the berries give off. You can see it starting to spread as this print was exposing under glass in full sunlight. Unfortunately, the color is fugitive, so I appreciate its fleeting glory.

I also did a few prints from a peony plant  that came with the landscaping.

Here are the exposed, unrinsed prints.

These give me a thrill every time, both for their dark beauty and for the preview of the final prints.

That lovely green color is from the unexposed cyanotype chemicals and will rinse out.

Here are the finished prints.

Lots of fun swirly stuff happening here.

These will look great in their ultimate form with stitched leaf veining.

If you are new here, I've been working with cyanotype since 2002, and with the wet cyanotype process since the summer of 2017. All the wet cyan posts, of which this is number 44, where I document my experiments in detail, are available in reverse chronological order by clicking the "Wet Cyanotype" tab in the header bar, or by going here.

And a reminder that you can also follow along on your social media of choice:
Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/suerenostudio
Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/suereno
Tumblr: http://suerenostudio.tumblr.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sue_reno_studio/

Messing around with monoprints

I am on hiatus from making wet cyanotype prints, but I had gathered a wonderful batch of leaves to work with before winter descends. Monoprinting is endlessfully fun and I hadn't done it in a while, so I pulled out the big gelliplate, opened some new bottles of textile paint and had a printmaking session.

I was working with royal paulownia leaves, which I love because they are huge, and pawpaw leaves, which I also love because they are huge. I used a mix of white pfd (prepared for dyeing, free of fabric finishes) cotton sateen and fabric I had previously painted or printed in some way.

In no particular order, here's a selection of the prints I made.

I did positive prints by painting the plate, pressing the leaves on it pick up the paint, then pressing the leaves on the fabric. I also did negative prints, using fabric to pick up the impressions and paint left on the plate. Basically, I just messed around.

It's hard to go wrong, because any print that's a dud, and those are few, can always be cut up for patchwork.

I was making these just because I could; I don't have a particular project in mind for them.

I also had some royal paulownia leaves that were too big for the gelliplate, so I made heliographic prints. The basic process is to coat the fabric with diluted paint, cover with the leaf, and put in in the sun to dry. The paint wicks out from under the leaf and forms an imprint.

Here's an example, my White Mulberry, where the center image is a heliographic print.

 Here's a detail image from Groundhog and Green Bean:

And the mustard plant from Skunk and Garlic Mustard:

For these prints, I added lots of gold polka dots:

The sun was too weak to produce a clean white print, but I love the nuance in this one:

And the pawpaw heliographic print has good edge definition. Stitching to add leaf veining will really make it pop.

I haven't promoted this in a long time, but my Quilting Arts instructional video, Surface Design Essentials for the Printed Quilt, is still available for download. It covers heliographic printing and a whole lot more, is clear, concise and easy to follow, and you can't beat the price. Available here, treat yourself!