The feel-good focus: art just for fun

The feel-good focus

Art just for fun

With the sudden popularity of adult colouring books, have you wondered if adults felt they needed permission to colour in? Or have adults felt a barrier to play?

As I have been sorting and packing to move I have been rediscovering and contemplating objects and projects made by myself and my children over the years. Creativity in any form is valued in our home as simply doing something if for no other reason. Doing something always beats doing nothing, and I've asserted that being bored is being boring. I've found a painted corrugated cardboard cutout of a house, a soft toy crudely stab-stitched together from recycled t shirt fabric, a handmade book cover screen printed with a kid-constructed robot stencil and story books clumsily handwritten, illustrated and stapled together. There are paintings in nail polish, fired and unfired pieces in clay, and drawings, and drawings, and drawings. Old school projects include a small handwoven mat and a life-sized chicken wire and strapping tape Egyptian mummy.

Made in play with the value and meaning in the making.

Fun and funky nail polish painting.

Our Christmas tree for the past six years has been an upcycled wonder made from a coreflute sign found under the house embellished with our green handprints on brown paper wrapping from the curtains. When the paper ran out we finished it using the packaging from a Safe toilet tissue multipack.

Without going into what I've amassed personally, the point is there are many reasons for creating something, but pure enjoyment is an important one. This brings us back to play.

Over the past couple of weeks I've stolen time from seriousness to work on a paper doll set I've wanted to make for a long time. It was a spontaneous decision, and although it is a product, I made it for the fun of making and for the fun of using. She's the Vintage Wallflower 1995. My daughter, around the same age I was that year, worked with me in the design process which really added to the feel-good factor - quality time can become hard to rope teenage daughters into!

Final working proofs for Vintage Wallflower 1995 paper doll set project.

The underlying purpose when children play is self-directed learning and skills development, packaged in fun and entertainment. They will do this on their own, but also socially - and guided play is an important part of early education at home and institutionally. By playing as adults, we reap the same benefits socially, physically and mentally improving our own sense of wellbeing.

I went out to Avalon Arts and Function Centre recently where the initiative, Art Laundromat is being developed around adult education with a focus on fun and permission to play, and I aim to participate in their program in the near future. While I am still offering linocut classes over May and drawing classes through Sharon Jensen in St John Street, I am launching Shoestring Printmaking sessions over winter focused on improvisation, play and mixed media messiness. There are still technical elements to this, but like adult colouring, it's about fun in the moment.

Art, play and fun: the concept for upcoming Shoestring Printmaking workshops.

One final note here in the spirit of art and the inner child: my kids have wanted a little family exhibition for a while, and as all our treasures are unearthed in preparation to move, we're setting them aside to exhibit in June. Small achievements will be held in FLOWA studio, 25-26 June.

Basic techniques for handprinting in colour

Basic techniques for handprinting in colour

The bold graphic qualities normally associated with relief printing - lino and wood - are well suited to high contrast images in black and white. This can also be a bit of a safe zone. Colour can add a great deal to an image, whether as a small splash or a large dose. It can completely redefine the work, or just add a new dimension, but in developing a print it is good to explore colour to assess all options.

There are many ways of incorporating colour into a relief print and these can be quite basic. More advanced techniques such as multi-blocks (different coloured areas are printed from different blocks), jigsaws (cutting the block into areas for different colours and reassembling for print) and reduction (carving areas away between printing in different colours) require a fair bit of planning in design. The best places to start playing with colour are through paper, ink and colouring by hand.

A good way to start experimenting is with paper. Many people feel safest using black ink perhaps because black on white is familiar. Working on a coloured background, whether a subtle neutral or pastel, or a vibrant spectrum can maintain contrast and the graphic impact through limited colour scheme. 

Printing without a press as I do means thinner, lightweight (low gsm) papers preferable to some of the heavier high quality papers if an even distribution of ink in the print is wanted rather than a fainter, sketchier image. This expands paper choice. Quality rice papers, brown paper, stationery, craft and coloured inkjet printer papers can all be used as substitutes to white with varying impact. Patterned origami and scrapbooking papers can work well as long as they allow enough contrast for the print to be seen well against it - this goes for the detail of the pattern as well as the depth of colour. Look for a matte finish on the paper, as ink will not distribute or adhere well on shiny gloss.

Black ink on various coloured papers with some hand colouring.

Printing in coloured ink can change the whole feel of a design. Block inks come in a range of colours which can be mixed within brands as well as used as they are. Sometimes the pigments used in the primaries don't produce clear secondary colours true to the spectrum, but this may not matter. White inks are also available and are interesting to use on black paper producing a negative. Mixed with spectrum colours they can add opacity as well as producing a lighter tint.

Small test pieces printing in different colours  on different papers with some hand coloured elements.

While coloured inks can be used in conjunction with coloured paper, inks can also be layered. An easy starting point is to print in colour from an uncarved block of the same or slightly smaller size than that of the carved image. The image can be printed over this once dry. Trials of different colour combinations will provide a reference for later prints as the transparency of different inks will produce results you may want to replicate later.

Basic and intermediate samples from workshop participants clockwise from top left: white over green ink, black on white paper with the addition of chine colle (collage piece added at time of printing) providing the red of a waratah, white on black paper, white on black with hand colouring in pencil, a carved block inked with a black and white blend or rainbow roll.

Hand colouring a print is simply colouring it in. This is the easiest way of incorporating many colours and adding dimension through blending and shading, although it may not be the easiest to replicate when producing multiples of the same. Watercolour, drawing inks and coloured pencils are all suitable, but it is good to test wet media on papers first as some, especially if lightweight will warp and buckle. This is also a great way to explore ideas that can be worked into an image through using multiple blocks or more advanced techniques.

Any of these easy methods can be used in combination and experimenting widely will reveal what does and doesn't work well according to each project. Be daring!

Combined techniques with green ink on brown paper and hand colouring. The black and white elements were printed separately and collaged later.

FLOWA: dive in and pop up

FLOWA: dive in and pop up

This time last year I was approaching the end of my degree and considering how I would build on it, developing my art practice outside the institution. I did know that I wanted to return my creative focus to printmaking which I'd majored in during the TAFE diploma which led me to university. I also knew I wanted to work alongside others and to try and maintain some structure in the transition from study to finding employment.

When June and my final assessments arrived, a conversation with Matthew, now part of the relocated studio, led me to visit a pop-up in Centreway Arcade where a group of glass artists from Tin Shed Studios were occupying one of several empty shops. They were both generous and enthusiastic in sharing information about the arcade, their agreement and a contact to make my own enquiry. And FLOWA happened - quickly.

The four of us - Janine Shields, Steffi Kelly, Sabrina Gibson and I - had worked alongside each other in the TAFE printmaking studio and between us we had a good range of equipment and supplies. It was a double shopfront we moved into, previously a cafe, and the kitchen with its double sink was ideal for using the space as a high volume working studio. The entrance was an ideal area to arrange individual work stations with a large trestle to share and a small etching press and screen printing jig in the centre, and ample storage cupboards along the back wall. It opened to the right into an area which could be devoted entirely to display, and the whole was exposed with glass frontage opposite the carpark entrance. It was perfect!

Day 1: view of the studio area from the entrance with some work beginning.

In the matter of days between the initial enquiry to moving in we'd brainstormed a list of ideas we could trial, decided on a name, whipped up a logo and threw together a Facebook page. But ultimately, we went in and made art, aware the space was ours only in the short term.

Working in full public view took a little time to relax into, but the deliberate layout guiding visitors first into the studio area drew interest as pure curiosity ("What is this?"), people wanting to share their creative interests and others seeking small commissions. While printmaking was the primary activity, we displayed and worked in other media, too, selling enough to cover our running costs and spend on coffee at The Kiosk two shops down.

 The working process up close: Stef's work station as seen by passers by.

Our agreement ran through July, and with no prospective tenant, was extended through August, and then September before we needed to vacate. By this time we'd established a small group of regular visitors and had engaged in conversation with a good cross section of the public, giving us some sense of what interested them and a platform for further directions. Janine and I especially felt ready to find a new studio space and we began to scout around for a place to relocate and develop around the FLOWA studio concept.

The short-term nature of a pop-up from our point of view both offered us a space to work and exhibit with maximum control but without the planning lengthy commitments require. We could trial our ideas as they arrived spontaneously and quickly receive feedback from people who didn't heavily associate themselves with art. The time factor also led us to take risks, to just dive in and work things out as we went along, and to make whatever we could without thinking too much about outcomes.

The gallery section from the arcade street.

On a personal note, the original FLOWA studio experience helped me look at different paths I could take as an artist and build enough confidence to begin Messy Press with the new FLOWA studio as its base. Janine and I now share the space with Matthew Dames overlooking St John Street from an old bay window. It's a different environment with new structures evolving, but we are still open to visitors and will be around much longer.

Some points we learned which might be useful if you're ever considering a pop-up:

• The strengths and limitations of the space will depend on where and how it is situated. The arcade was heated over winter and secured with an alarm system throughout. However, the arcade was inaccessible during certain hours, and trading was restricted between specific hours on specific days.
• Terms of agreement will vary. Our financial obligation for use of the premises was limited to electricity, but other costs could apply depending on the property owner.
• Insurance is necessary. Public liability and glass are a basic must, and personal property might be added depending on the value of items and the level of security the premises has.
• Parking fees were our huge oversight. HUGE. Locate good parking spaces and look at transport alternatives.

Preparing an image for printmaking

Preparing an image for printmaking

Wood and linocut for beginners

One of the great things about printmaking as a discipline is the flexibility in the types of source images which can be used to create an original work. Although I like to draw, and my process usually begins with a few study sketches, sometimes it isn't feasible according to the desired product. I photographed a dragonfly's wing for a linocut as drawing it was a waste of time. Sometimes beginning with sketches to better understand subject matter is useful, but a photographic image is a better option for transferring. This is how I have approached my current work on crystal clusters. Sketches helped me look at structure and tonal variations in the shadows and reflections, but images showing variety in cluster forms were best sourced through the internet.

Transition, 2013 (second edition)
Drawing the original image would not have added anything other than labour to the finished product.

Untitled, 2016 (work in progress)
Images for the series have been sourced primarily online to access variety in cluster forms. The end result is significantly different from the original 'borrowed' photographs.

Is it okay to use someone else's image? Yes. It will be transformed by the process. If you are going to make copies of specific images - that is, they look just like the original - it's fine as long as the original artist is credited in the title.

Photographs and outsourced images are also good for people who lack confidence in their drawing skills. They provide a framework for something that might not be attempted by hand as well as a reference for decisions regarding tones, textures etc that will be developed as the process dictates.
The different strengths and limits of the printmaking process used is something to consider. Wood and linocut are better suited to a stronger, graphic quality as fine detail and shading can be hard to achieve. The image will need to be interpreted in terms of contrasting areas, lines and marks to show forms, tones and textures. Digitally editing images can be especially useful for experimenting with contrast and other effects before they are carved on a block.

With many printmaking processes, relief printing included, the finished product will be a mirror image of the design on the material you have printed from. Everything will face the opposite direction and any text will be backwards. This needs adjusting before transfer by flipping digitally or either tracing or photocopied onto tracing paper which can be laid right side down.

Even with a drawn design, I prefer to transfer onto the block by placing a sheet of carbon paper between it and the image and tracing. Some are confident enough to draw direct. Some like to tint the surface of the block with a colour, such as red, which will make cutting marks more visible without impacting the visibility of the transferred image. This is a good idea not only because the amount of cutting can be seen, but also because areas of dark and light are shown as they will be in the finished print.

Sandwiching carbon paper between the lino surface and image for tracing around. The surface of the lino hasn't been tinted. If were to do this, I would choose a colour the dark blue of the carbon paper transfer was visible against. The original image now acts as a guide to  cutting out lines and tonal areas.

The source image may have points of reference or clues to the kinds of marks most suitable to bring out its features and qualities. Line qualities such as thickness, spacing and direction might show form and dimension of an object than stippled marks which could be used for texture and soft changes in tone. Different tools will make a different range of marks, so it's worth experimenting with direction and pressure. picking at the surface with the blade, rocking the blade as you cut and changing the amount of pressure as you push the tool forward.

Linear cuts show the angular form of the cluster. All marks were made using a single V tool using more pressure for thicker lines. The wedge shaped cuts resulted from applying more pressure toward the end of the mark.