Jim Blodget's Art

Traditional and digital art

Archives (page 4 of 12)

Collage Textures and Masks

Monotype Experiments

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This week I made a monotype collage, experimented with masks and with various ways to make interesting textures. I also made a larger flexible membrane plate. My initial setup was made to do 8×10 inch monotypes. My new one can do up to 12×18, which is the largest size I can scan.

I began the week with an idea. I could print multiple monotypes and paste them together to create a larger piece. I could either do this digitally on the computer or I could glue them together in a traditional collage. I decided to try it on the computer first. That way I could experiment with where to make the cuts, but first I had to make multiple monotypes.

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Watercolor and Trace Monotypes

Watercolor and Trace Monotypes

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This week I experimented with using watercolor on a membrane plate and with doing trace monotypes. These techniques have a long history. Degas did a lot of monotypes as did some of the other Impressionists. I particularly like Degas’s landscapes and his use of pastel over monotype.

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Three Monotypes

Three Monotypes

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This week I experimented with augmenting monotypes by adding additional media by hand after printing. I added crayon and white ink to the water garden, I added white gouache trees over the acrylic monotype background, and I added some black ink with a brush pen to the black and white monotype.

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Flowers Landscapes and Sketches

Flowers Landscapes and Sketches

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This week I tried new approaches to monotypes and sketching. The nasturtiums are still blooming. So, I photographed them with my phone and used the photos as reference for a crayon sketch and a monotype. I then tackled a larger monotype of Ankeny wetland using what I’ve learned so far. Then mid-week I got a new set of Qor watercolors and tried them out on a series of small sketches, and finally today I did another monotype of the Painted Hills in Eastern Oregon using a new technique.

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A Wealth of Flowers

Flowers Monotype

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This week I did a monotype using a different paint. It is Holbein Acryla Gouache. I like it better than Golden Open Acrylic. It dries to a nice matte finish and is more opaque.

Strathmore 400 Series Printmaking paper 11×14 inches (27.9×35.6 cm), Holbein Acryla Gouache mixed with Golden Retarder on a Saran Wrap plate. Image is 8×10 inches (20.3×25.4 cm).

I worked in multiple passes. I dried each layer with a hairdryer before printing the next layer. Normally this gouache dries too quickly to use as a printmaking ink. I added some acrylic retarder to slow the dry time so that I could manipulate the paint on the plate.

About half way through I almost quit. The paint was not behaving the way I wanted it to, but I kept at it. I’m glad I did because it turned out better than what I had in mind. Paint is your partner. It will do wonderful things if you let it. Collaboration is better than control.

Jim

Shooting Without Looking

Shooting Without Looking

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This week I examined my basic approach to photography. For 65 years I’ve been using the same process. I photograph what I see through the viewfinder. What would happen if I didn’t do that? I tried it out in our backyard. I have a little point and shoot camera that lets me turn the viewfinder off. I held the camera in the middle of a bush or tree and clicked the shutter without looking – no composing, no focusing, no exposure settings. Above are all nine shots with no cropping and no image editing. They surprised me by capturing views of my own backyard that I didn’t know existed.

The experience intrigued me. So, the next day I took my little camera to the Oregon Garden. I tried all kinds of unusual angles and perspectives. It was fun. I took around 50 pictures without looking. I waited to look at them until after I got home. The anticipation added to the fun.

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Paint the Town

Paint the Town

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I did a dozen paintings for Paint the Town this year. These are the three works I’m submitting for the show at the Elsinore Gallery. The opening will be this Wednesday night, September 5th. Awards will be given at 6:30. The show runs through September. You can see all my Paint the Town paintings on Flickr.

Jim

A Couple of Monotypes

Two Monotypes

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This week I experimented with two new printmaking techniques. The first one used a framed flexible plastic membrane plate setup that I designed and built myself. For the second one I tried using parchment paper as a plate.

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