I’ve been quiet for a while but I just wanted to let you know I’ve set up a new online class. It’s all about using a limited palette for your gel print monoprints. I”ve used three colors plus black and white in the Golden Open Acrylics line along with a 10×8″ GelliArts plate. I’ve included info on creating a mixed color chart you can use forever as a resource. For the print in this class, we select some colors from the chart to work together. For more information on the class here’s the link – https://bobpennycook.teachable.com
Here’s a seven minute video for you showing how I make my landscape monoprints. If you want some hands on experience, I’m offering a monoprinting studio class on Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Email for more info: bob@bobpennycook.com
Create this step-by-step torn paper monoprint during the Monoprint Makeover class at Lucy’s Art Lab . I’ll show you how to print many layers of colour on an 8×10 gel plate.
And drop by my studio on Sept 22 or 23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. I’m part of the Tweed and Area Studio Tour. If your up for a great drive in the country, there’s lots of interesting art to see this weekend. Check out the tour here.Share this post:
Join me during Downtown Belleville’s Art Walk on June 7 from 4 to 7 p.m. Artists everywhere!! Great restaurants and gallery openings. I’ll be at Reiki on Wheels demonstrating monoprinting. Share this post:
In my last blog post I mentioned I wanted to spend most of this year exploring printmaking. I haven’t worked with prints on an ongoing basis for a number of years.
I used to create monoprints on an etching press, but once I left school and a former art studio, I had no access to a press to create the prints. About four years ago I discovered the Gelli Arts® Plates, a gelatin-like substrate used for monoprinting. Add paint to the plate, create a little mark-making, and the image transfers to paper beautifully. I’d been playing with this printmaking technique for a few years, in between creating paintings. But for this year, I’ve decided to work mostly using the monoprinting technique.
To strengthen my commitment, a few weeks ago I was asked to be part of the Gelli Arts® design team, a chance to work, creative and publish my monoprinting ideas. The photo above shows all the design team members for 2018. We’ll all be publishing concepts, projects over on the Gelli Arts® blog this year and will pop up in the company’s facebook and Instagram feeds as well. And over on the right side of this blog, there’s a “buy” button for the gel plate. If you find you have an urge to create monoprints inspired by your own ideas or any future posts on this blog, you can use this “buy” button and save 10 per cent on your purchase. Just to be clear, this is an affiliate link and I will receive some payment for any purchases made using this “buy” button. But it’s an easy way to get started monoprinting.
I’ve been working a bit on Yupo paper recently and the print below is one of those I just finished. The first image shows a lot of random layers of colour printed using the plate and the second image shows how I added and removed colour to create a poppy garden.
Late last year I felt I needed a change to my daily routine. I spend as many days in the studio each week as I can, painting. But I wanted to create a different approach to my art his year.
I’ve been creating monotypes/monoprints for several years now as a hobby, I guess. Whenever I’m not painting and I feel I need a break, I’ll produce a print or two.
But for this year, at least for the first half of the year, the emphasis will be on printmaking, particularly monoprinting. I want to see how far I can take it. I want to create mixed media art with prints, paint and pencils….just to see what happens.
The image above is a recent small print. It’s 6×6″. I did this print specifically for the video below simply to show process. It’s a quick, three-minute video Have a look. Hope you enjoy.
New Classes:
There are a couple of new spring studio classed listed under “Workshop/classes” page above.
New Prints:
I’ve also added some new prints to the “portfolio: prints” page above.Share this post:
My upcoming solo show at the Parrott Art Gallery in Belleville, Ontario next month. Come visit on opening night. And if you can’t make it on Dec. 7, the show runs until Dec. 28. Hope you’ll find a chance to visit.
Seriously, I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I signed up for Leslie Saeta’s 30 paintings in 30 days. I’ll get into the study early every morning during September and paint a small image to upload. And I’ll upload a week’s worth of images only once a week.
I’ve been working on a large series of landscapes for an upcoming solo exhibition and thought I’d use this daily challenge to create some smaller, micro landscapes and still lifes where only one object appears in the painting.
The emphasis will be on values, color contrast and texture. You can check out the paintings on the 30/30 page at the top of the website.
Sometimes I just like to rub my hands over a painting to feel the bumps and lumps and grit of the acrylic texture. It makes me happy; it makes the surface mine; it shows my process.
The painting above is a small, 12×12″ canvas with lots of texture. I wanted to create a landscape minimal elements but with the look and feel of nature. The sky was painted; the mid ground forms were collaged using acrylic skins (a future blog post) and the foreground was created with fiber paste.
I spread Golden’s fiber paste over the bottom half of the canvas; let it dry, then painted the absorbent surface. With a drybrush of blue on top of the painted texture, there’s subtle tonal and value shifts and a more pronounced textured look.
The videos below show my process of working with fiber paste. The videos are only a few seconds long just so you get a feel for the application of the medium.
Unlike the painting above, where I applied the paste directly to the canvas, this series of videos shows me creating a fiber skin that I will collage onto a future painting.
As the video shows, I use acetate sheets for the process.
A cute product shot!
Applying the paste to the acetate sheet. Plastics sheets and bags will also work for this. And if you spread out the paste evenly and smoothly you can create something that looks like a sheet of rough watercolor paper. By the way, fiber paste is made with mineral fibers rather than paper or material fibers. It makes the medium more archival.
Odd little photo, but it shows me using a razor blade scraper to lift the dried fiber paste off the acetate sheet. You need to let the freshly applied paste dry overnight before removing from the acetate.
This is a three minute video that shows ripped and torn pieces of dried fiber paste being collaged to the painting surface. And you’ll notice I’m demonstrating upside down. That’s a skill!! I use soft gel medium to apply the fiber sections. Any of the gels can be used as a glue for collaging. The heavier the gel viscosity, the heavier the collage material can be. Notice I use a piece of waxed paper to press down on the glued fiber. By placing a clean piece of waxed paper each time over the fiber surface, and by pressing firmly and evenly without moving the waxed paper, you prevent gel medium from overlapping the fiber paste. If gel medium does cover the paste in sections, those sections won’t be as absorbent as the uncovered fiber paste. I wiped up excess gel with a paper towel.
Once the gel has dried and the fiber paste piece is firmly glued, paint the surface. You can also mix paint with the wet fiber paste before spreading and drying the paste. Heavy body or liquid paints can be used.
In this video, I drybrush blue paint over the surface creating a look similar to the one in the painting at the top of this post. The paint clings to the high spots of the texture creating depth and often contrast and vibrancy.Share this post:
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My upcoming solo show at the Parrott Art Gallery in Belleville, Ontario next month. Come visit on opening night. And if you can’t make it on Dec. 7, the show runs until Dec. 28. Hope you’ll find a chance to visit.
Share this post:
Seriously, I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I signed up for Leslie Saeta’s 30 paintings in 30 days. I’ll get into the study early every morning during September and paint a small image to upload. And I’ll upload a week’s worth of images only once a week.
