Dry Points for October

 

What I’ve been up to. 

Benched Harvest

I have been working some new Autumn themed pieces using a technique that I have not yet mastered but really like the feel of. The technique is dry-point printmaking. Dry point is considered an intaglio process (the exact opposite of relief printing). When creating a dry-point plate, the design is incised or engraved on the surface. The design is not “etched”.  To be clear, etching requires chemicals that I do not necessarily want to keep in my home studio and either a glass or metal plate. In my process, I use a sharp needle sometimes called a “scribe” to make the incisions for the design on a clear plastic plate…think thin plexiglass. Name brands are “Clear Carve” and “Graphix”. An experiment using inexpensive stencil blanks from Hobby Lobby had an okay result too.

The difference between relief printing and intaglio is the ink lays on the flat surfaces of the relief block but for a dry-point plate the ink is forced into the grooves/incisions.  When the print is transferred from a relief block to the printing surface (paper) it is pretty straight forward because the inked surface comes into contact with the paper, but with a dry-point plate the ink has to be pushed out of the grooves on to the paper with pressure. In most cases the back of a spoon isn’t going to work, and a press of some kind is definitely needed.

I sort of mixed the technique with mono-printing. I applied the dark ink to the plate for the outlines of my design and then “finger painted” in a little color to the flat surfaces. I printed in a single pull. I don’t recommend using more that a few colors at once or everything will turn muddy…but hey! Brown is an autumn color.

If you are interested in trying your hand at dry-point printing and live around the Fox Valley (NE Wisconsin)... once we get to a post-pandemic life, look up my friend Mel Kolstad. She's a great teacher. I took one of her dry-point classes to get me started and I absolutely loved it!

See my work locally!

Acorns

 I just found out a few days ago that my dry point “Acorns” was accepted into Create! A Wisconsin Art Show. Hosted by the Richeson School of Art & Gallery, Create! Is designed to encourage Wisconsin artists of all experience levels to create an exhibit art. There are so many talented folks represented in this art show, please stop in to see all the works. The exhibit runs from October 15^th- January 14^th.

Ongoing Halloween block print catnip toys are available in my shop! They are really cute and big enough for an “adult” sized kitty. Each one is sewn by hand and filled with poly-fiber and catnip from my herb garden! I used Speed Ball fabric inks which are non-toxic and carry the AP seal.

I will be updating store items in the next few weeks moving some “seasonal” prints to archive for a while to make room for new pieces. So, if you have your eye on something please order it soon. “Benched Harvest” is new in the shop, as well mono prints “Floral Bowl” and “Compassion”. Stop by L. Marie Printmaking.com to browse soon!