Thursday 20 January 2011

Take...Collagraph journey with me .... A tutorial..

I have finally got around to finishing this tutorial, with one thing and another I just haven't got around to it.

It could all go wrong... but here goes..

'ROOK'
This is the story of one of my first collagraph prints...

It started with a rook in my garden.. I was so surprised to see it, needless to say no camera to hand.  So with a quick look on the internet I found a photo of a rook that I liked, printed it and traced it.
Then off to get samples of textured wall paper, you know the stuff.. the wallpaper that no one wants... I now have samples for the world, and cannot walk past a wallpaper aisle without taking a few samples .  I often wonder what the the staff think of me.....  'A wallpaper bag lady'   I wonder if they think that I decorate my walls with the stuff... Yuck!....... I think that I am doing the DIY shops a service, by taking some samples and recycling it... That is my story and I'm sticking to it.
Anyway, I diverse.... On a piece of stiff card I turned the rook over an placed the tracing on the card and re-drew the rook so that the drawing was transferred onto the cardboard.  Remembering that when it is printed the image will be reversed.
 


If you want to see how I made this collagraph plate just click on the link A collagraph tutorial or on the side bar  at  'Other places'.


I love doing collagraph but have so much to learn, If anyone has any advice, all is welcome, I appreciate all the help I can get.

If on the other hand anyone would like to ask me a question please just ask.

15 comments:

  1. From a fellow textured wall paper grabber (only mine's been used on polymer clay) I absolutely love how your collagraph's turned out; who'd have thought something that 'nobody wants' could be turned into something quite so beautiful?

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  2. I'm intrigued - not being a printmaker and all that. It looks like rather an absorbing technique (makes mental not to get distracted *just* yet) ;)

    Fx

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  3. Hello Julie...I also love collagraphs, but havn't made any since college....I don't know how well it would work at home without a press, and also not sure what inks to use.
    I love your Rook...your work is so interesting....it makes me want to lay aside textiles for just a little while and play:-)
    Love,Ellen xx

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  4. Nice to see this tutorial and I'm also a collector of wall paper-samples.

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  5. Julie, this is so interesting and I hope to try it out! Thank you for the tut!

    I've been away from blogging for the past few weeks and am glad to be able to catch up a bit now! Missed you!

    Hugs!

    Sue

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  6. Julie,
    What a wonderful collagraph! You have such diverse talents. I laughed reading about you taking wallpaper samples.
    With happiness,
    Rebecca

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  7. Nicely done! I'm a bit of a wallpaper freak too at times.

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  8. Such a beautiful print Julie, you make it look very easy, but it's a tricky technique to get right.I always think the plates themselves look just as stunning as the print too x

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  9. I have to admit...I don't really know what a collagraph is.... but, will check out more on it....

    what pretty wallpaper for something like this...but walls... aacckkk!

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  10. Julie... at first glance of the "rook" I thought to myself; "What lovely and detailed stitching this Julie girl is into now!" And to think... it is layered wall paper! I am not familiar with collagraph and haven't attempted any sort of print work since the late 60's... Yikes! You spur me on to read more, stretch myself a bit and get on with it! Blessings across the great divide... you are not alone! Daryle

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  11. That is gorgeous. Although I have my own press, collograph is still a bit of a mystery to me. You have helped a lot to demistify it. One of these days I am going to get wall paper samples and make a start...haha.

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  12. Julie, what a great idea to use textured wallpapers for collagraphs! Now why did I never think of that? A lovely image too. How ever did you print it without a press?

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  13. toujours aussi créative.. joli!

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  14. Where did you find such great wallpaper textures? And, thank you for your collagraph! Great idea and great use of textures!

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  15. Hi Julie.. I get them from the DIY stores... If you email me your address I'll happily send you some samples..

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Welcome to one and all, please feel free to leave a few words..

I am always pleased to read what you have to say and will always try to answer any questions you have to ask. ~ Julie