Mono-typing at home!

February 28, 2010

So I have come across a new technique and I love it. The style came from my class of mono-printing and is called mono-type. It is a very simple printing process that gives you awesome results and is really easy to do. I thought, since I liked it so much, I would write out a little tutorial so others can try it! If you do end up doing it, please show me some of the things you came up with!

Mono-typing is a very painterly style of printing. It is also a print that is impossible to replicate.  You can either use a traditional press... which if you dont have access to one you can get for the low price of about 15,000 dollars :), or you can do the much cheaper hand printing. Here are the steps. 

1. Acquire the materials. You will need: 

-A flat sheet of plastic or metal that is the size of your print. This is what you paint on. 

-Get a piece of paper in the size of your print with enough room for a border, if you want one. The paper will have to be wet for printing so the best paper is either watercolor paper or special printing paper. You can still use drawing paper, but it will warm a little after drying. 

-What inks you get is a little flexible. One of the best kinds is a printing ink called akua. The are a little expensive, I only have a black and a 2 oz container of it cost me $8.70. The price is based on the color, since the minerals that make up the pigments are all different prices. The black is the cheapest and the 2 ounces goes a long way. You can also use oils. The main importance is you use an ink that doesn't dry easily. You want to have time to work on  the plastic/metal and still have it wet enough to make a good print.

-Have with you a variety of brushes, cut up cotton fabric for wiping, and any other thing you think you might want to paint with. Finding things with texture is fun to press into the paint. you can get a brayer, a little rubber roller, to administer the ink as well but its not necessary. 

-I suggest having some sort of ink thinner so painting comes a little easier. 

- A spray bottle with water in it. The finer is mists the better

-A pastry roller for printing.

-Spare paper/newsprint

2. Set out your station. You are going to want to have some newspaper under you because this is a messy process. Make sure to have a piece of scarp cardboard, plastic, etc for a pallet. 

3. Start Painting! Use the tools and ink to start moving the ink around your plastic. With press printing, you have to be modest with you ink since there is so much pressure being put on your paper and you don't want it to mush out when you put it though. With hand printing, you want to be pretty liberal. You still want to avoid globs of paint anywhere, but you should have your layers pretty thick so they show up. 

4. Preparing the paper and printing: When you are happy with your piece, take your paper and mist it with water. Having the paper wet help lift the ink off of the plastic.  If you have the higher quality printing or watercolor paper, you can completely submerge your paper in water. If you have drawing paper or something similar, you are going to need to go easy on the moisture, otherwise the paper will fall apart. After your paper is wet, take some spare or news print and wet it liberally. Lay the to the side.

Take the sheet you want the print to be on and lay it on a flat surface, like a table. Place your painted plastic, ink down, where you want it on your paper. carefully flip the duo so the paper is on top. Be careful not to move either piece or the ink will smudge. Take the roller and start applying pressure with it al around the paper. You will be able to feel where the plastic begins and ends. Go every direction. If an area gets dry, apply more water by spraying the roller and then rolling it across the area. 

5. Check your print by lifting up a corner of your paper. This is where personal judgement comes in. If the ink is dark enough on the paper your done, if you want it darker you can put it back down and apply more pressure and water. If after a while, the ink doesn't seem to be getting any darker, you can always repeat the process and re-print on the same paper. Re-printing is also used as an effect to create more depth to the art piece. 

6. Clean up or keep printing!

If you have any questions let me know. This is me first tutorial so I might have left some things out. The two prints I included i did yesterday and the day before. They are done with the black akua and then some left over oils I had. I did them in 2-3 layers (re-prints). Enjoy and get printing!

A Little of Everything

February 25, 2010

I can't believe it's the end of Feb. already. It was christmas like 2 weeks ago! Well thats hows things work when it's really busy. I have been getting so much art done and loving it! For my challenge pieces I did 3 prints, a quilt, and photography today. All that means is I am getting really bad at posting my stuff. I am supposed to be writing one of these each day. Ah well, thats how things go. At least I am still doing my art. 

One of my biggest challenges so far has been keeping up on the costs of art supplies. Not only are my classes requiring odd and expensive supplies, but I am running low on the stuff I have always had around the house. You go though a lot when doing art everyday! So, I was wondering if everyone who reads this wouldn't mind spreading the word. Advertising is a lot harder then you would think! Especially when you are not paying for it. haha

Well I have to get going. Always something to do. Hope everyone is having a good February. Thanks, as always, for your support! Night!

So much to update!!

February 22, 2010

I am sorry I have been away for so long. Life is getting a little crazy. But today, I woke up to a snow day, and so I have 

some extra time for me! I am not even sure if it was actually a snow day for the college because the snow has almost washed away now, but this morning it was pretty crazy and I didn't want to have to drive all the way to our mall on this huge hill to drop Simon off, and then all the way back to school by myself. Im still not at all confident with driving in weather like this. Hopefully my teacher will understand and not drop me from the class or something. I think this is my 3rd time being absent. 

Well I have a lot to show you since it has been 5 days. There is 1 drawing, 1 collage, some more (the last of them) pictures of the Salton Sea, and some cards I put together of my old stuff. I still haven't done the piece for today. I think I am going to do another collage, or maybe a scratch board, but my mood for this sort of thing changes so quickly, who knows what I'll be doing. I do know that it will be an actual, physical, piece since the last couple days I have been doing things on the computer.

Well that is about it. I do want to thank Patty

 Sleger for purchasing "Don't forget the Elephant on my Back". I am so thankful for everyone's support, it really helps push me on those days where art is the last thing I want to do :) . I hope everyone had a great weekend as has a good rest of the week. Only 312 more days to go which means I have done 53 art pieces so far! See you soon. -Nikki

Back with some collage work

February 17, 2010

Things are busy! I have been able to keep up 

on art though, and the last couple days were full of ripped paper, glue, and india ink. My type of company! I got some inspiration from my "Drunk in Color" art piece that I have sitting next to my fish. I have three that I am presenting tonight. One is just a drawing, but still pretty cool. I love the other two though....I just have a thing for the style. I think it is because the glued paper gives the pieces such cool texture. Well I know this is ridiculously short, but I have to get going. SO MUCH TO DO!!! I'll make up for it by writing a novel next time. :) Thanks for reading and check out the gallery at helpshopgallery.com

Drawing #1 Winner!!!

I wanted to do a quick announcement about the winner for the drawing. Judy, a friend of my mom's from California, won the matted card-stock print of "Sock Monkey Portrait". She will have it sent to her completely free of charge. The next drawing is starting tonight at midnight, and will by going on until March 4th, 2010. That gives anyone who is not currently a "follower" of the blog 2 weeks to sign up. The names for the drawing comes from the names that are following my blog. Let your friends know! The prize this time is a single card-stock greeting card "stamp" with the envelopes.  I put the picture up with some information on the right if you need to take a look. Thank you everyone for all the support. Good luck!

Travel Inspiration

February 15, 2010

        I thought I would put in a quick post for the last couple days of art. Things have been so busy that I took the day off from school just to catch up. I still haven't done todays art piece either. I was able to get some color home work done which is good, but I have 2 logos to design, a tattoo to design, and a house to clean. Man, things are crazy. 

      On the 13th I just edited some more of my photos. I took SO many and I have quite a few that I still want to edit. On the 14th I did an acrylic painting on canvas with a palate knife. I also added some plaster to the paints to thicken it up. It was a lot of fun but took a really long time. My inspiration was our trip. Simon got me this book by a travel writer named Bill Bryson for Valentines Day. It is really funny and incredibly inspirational if you are wanting to take a trip. He has written a few books but this one is specifically about some travels of his in Europe. So, of course, I can't stop thinking of our trip and so did an art piece about it. This is a bull fight in Madrid, Spain, the first place we are going to explore in Europe. 

Well, I have a lot to do so I am going to head out. Thank you all for reading and if you are not a member, you only have about 4 hours and 20 minutes left to participate in the drawing. Tomorrow I will have a new prize up for the next drawing and announce this time's winner! Thanks for all the support! Buh bye.

Busy busy busy.... and a sea obsession.

February 11, 2010

The past couple days have been really busy with school and the Help!Shop. I finally got the website up and it looks great! I am really happy with it. If you want to check it out you can go to helpshopgallery.com . My classes have been going well, but the only one that doesn't seem especially slow is my mono-print class. I don't feel anywhere near ready to make a quilt yet and the photoshop class is only once a week, so we can't get much done. Our second project is due in photo though. I have the pictures I am going to use on the web site. They are called "Skull and Plant" and "Rust Car". The project was shape and shadow, so the photos had to have a shadow in them. The project kinda sucked for this week since it has been overcast most of the time. I think those will do alright.

I did edit some more of my Salton Sea pictures earlier today. I love how some of them are turning out. Simon and I are probably going to go to Sedona for Valentines Day and I am excited about taking photos together again. Simon is really enjoying it as well, so it has become a fun thing to do together. We just need another camera now. :)

The painting and drawing were done yesterday and Tuesday. I have been on a weird nautical kick lately so all my art has something to do with the sea. The painting could have been a little bigger, but as a starving artist/student, you get what you can afford. At least I got them done!

Well that is about it for this post. Like I said, the website is up and running so make sure to check it out! If you are interested in buying any art work, that would be the place to go. Everything is set up with pay pal now! Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! 

Black octopus and what's to come.

February 8, 2010

I got back from my mono-print class at about 4:30 and have been working on art stuff ever since. I have been able to get all of my new photos on facebook and my deviant art account, but I still need to get them on my foundmyself.com gallery. Sorry for the delay, things are hectic. 

I am loving my classes more and more, the longer I am in them. Today I tried the dry point method of mono-printing. It is where you scratch out your image onto some plexiglas, rub ink into the grooves, and then print it onto the paper. I only got as far as the test print, but I am using that as my art piece today because I think it turned out really well. I am really exited about what it will look like as a finished print. 

I also added the octopus drawing I did on Friday, Feb. 5th. I was only just now able to photograph him and put him up on the art sites. I like how he turned out too. He was done with charcoal on card-stock with a masked out border. I think I am going to do a little mini-series of charcoal creatures. Im not sure of the specifics yet, but I want to start drawing more and I think that would be a nice place to start out. Mr. octopus was fun enough.

Thanks, as always, to my readers and supporters! Make sure to take a look at the details of my new members drawings and invite your friends to join. Take a look at foundmyself.com/ gallery/nikkiandsimon for more art and purchasing instructions. I plan to get my personal web site up and running be the end of the week. Only 326 more pieces to go! Good night.

One of the weirdest places on earth....

February 7, 2010

Yesterday Simon and I went with a good friend of ours , Andrew Weiss, to the Sulton Sea in California. We Packed up and headed to his place on Friday night after Simon got off work at 9:30, and then headed out the following morning at 7:00 am. The morning was pretty cold for phoenix and the three of us were exhausted and uncomfortable. With Andrew driving, we headed out of town for the 4 hour drive.

The Sultan Sea is the largest lake in California and is saltier than sea water. It is also below sea level and has 3 rivers flowing unto it but no outflow, making it constantly changing. These things make for a very unique place. At first look you notice the thousands of shells that make up the ground, all from the same barnacle type animals, long dead. The next most common site would be birds or dead fish but their smell hits you first. At first glance a place of destitute and death with the pelicans as its vultures. However, even with the evident air of decay, there is a lot of life. Plants start growing a ways off from the sea and go on for miles. The birds feast on the many fish still surviving in the salty lake, and there is fungi on the sloppy shores. With so many new visions in front of us, we took up our cameras and started shooting. 

Andrew is the photographer of the bunch. It was his idea to go his second time for the sole purpose of taking photos. Since I am in Digital photography this semester, Simon and  I were able to tag along. He was even nice enough to let me use his old camera so Simon could use ours. Not too long after arriving, it started to rain on and off, but all three of us still got some amazing shots. Even with forgetting appropriate shoes, I slopped around in the mud to get the best angles. Im not sure my yellow flats will ever recover and I still have a little piece of shell stuck in my foot, but I got a picture of them so my teacher will appreciate it. :) 

All of us were covered in mud and sweat by the time we left for the long ride back. I am sure the car would have smelled horrific to anyone else, but to us, it was a haven from the fish rot. 

Once finally home we were able to look at our pictures and i even started to edit a few. I am presenting them as my art pieces for yesterday and today. I know I still owe you one for the 5th, but I don't have it photographed yet, so I'll post it with tomorrows. As for the sea, I do recommend for any one who likes the outdoors, unique experiences, and are not afraid of bad smells or getting dirty, to visit the Sulton Sea. The place is one of a kind and incredibly interesting. Thank you as always for reading and I hope you like the pictures! If you want to see more from the trip check out my gallery at foundmyself.com/gallery/nikkiandsimon .See you tomorrow!

Finally finished...

February 4th, 2010

The art pieces I did last night and today were things I finished up from a long time ago. The two Dream Sailing pieces are from an art class during my first year of college, before Simon and I were married, and the Johnny Cash one is from high school. The Johnny Cash drawing required very little to finish. All I did was add a little more to the background. The other two were at one time "finished" for class, but I didn't like the way they looked at all, so I used some of my many sharpies and added more to them. I like how they turned out. Sharpies can fix almost anything. :)

I am still a little sick, but I took some medicine so I'm feeling better. I was able to do the shooting for my first digital photography project, which was fun. The assignment was to get an object and take pictures of it in different settings and at every angle you can think of. I think we were supposed to take about 20 pictures. I really like how some of the pictures turned out. I accidently deleted 3 of them though, so I have to take some more. I want to wait until it is a little darker outside though, so I can get some different lighting. 

I also want to say thank you to Marsha Cleaveland, Simon's aunt, for purchasing some artwork! I am so thankful for the support you are giving us. It means a lot and helps out tremendously! Thank you to everyone who reads this and for the support on facebook and foundmyself.com . It has been a lot of fun doing this challenge because of all the positive influence I am continuing to get! Don't forget to take a look at the gallery on foundmyself.com/gallery/nikkiandsimon . Only 330 more pieces to go! Buh bye :)

Hello February

February 3, 2010

Well, I am happy to be back on the blog and kicking off February. I am a little late again but there has been a lot going on. On monday evening, our little ferret Harvey started to get sick. He was very tired an unobservant, which is very odd for a ferret. The next morning I woke up to him whimpering. The poor little guy was trying to go to the bathroom but nothing was happening. He was getting worse and worse by the hour, eventually looking as if he was going to die at any moment. We took him to the vet at about 10:00 am and they rushed him into the back to put him on fluids and some heating bags. His temp was dangerously low and he was completely dehydrated. A few possibilities about what could be causing this were talked about. Everything from him swallowing something that got stuck to a common disease ferrets can get that needs emergency surgery. Simon and I left him in the hospital to get the immediate treatment he needed and went home to talk things over. If he did need surgery it was going to cost us another $600-$800 on top of the current bill. We just couldn't do that. It was heartbreaking to me, but that was way over any amount we were able to spend. When we picked him up he wasn't much better. We looked at some x-rays and were given a few meds he had already started taking during his stay. We were told that if he wasn't any better by

 morning, we would probably have to put him down. Once we were

 home he went straight to "his" corner and struggled to go to the bathroom again. He did and out came a piece of cork. Idiot ferret... eating cork. Well after that he went again about 4 times, started drinking and eating, and went back to sleep. By this morning, he almost seemed back to normal. You can tell he is still tired, and we are going to be continuing his meds, but I am so happy to see his continuing recovery! 

This was the most stressful thing that has happened the past few days, but not the only thing. At some point yesterday evening I started to feel sick. By the time Simon and I were going to bed I had a full blown fever, aches, and a sore throat. I was able to get to sleep, but I woke up this morning with all the same symptoms. I wasn't able to go to school today because of it, and didn't have the teacher's e-mail or number to call and get my absent excused. Ughh. Such a pain. Hopefully she will have some mercy on me and allow me to make up my critique I was supposed to do. I also have to get some pictures printed and take some more for my photography class, get some prints made, do my color class homework, hopefully go to my quilting class tomorrow and take care of the ferret. This was a horrible time to get sick!

Well besides all that, I posted the art for the 1st and the 2nd. The results of the poll were for me to use an owl in my painting for February 1st, so here it is. I also have some more pictures for the 2nd. I still need to do the art piece for today so I will either post it later or tomorrow. Sadly, because of the ferret emergency, the money meter for our trip has gone up. His final bill was $262 which came out of that savings. We do have our little friend still though, so its worth it! Thank you to everyone for your support. I hope you like the new design for the blog. Don't forget to take a look at the gallery at foundmyself.com/gallery/nikkiandsimon . See you soon.