Postcard prints for charity

I am participating in the Instagram #oneofmanypostcard project which was initiated by printmaker @johnpedder.  Artists offer small pieces of art for free and, when it arrives, the recipient then donates what they think it is worth, or an amount they can afford, to a good cause of their choice - no need to declare to whom or how much.

I believe this initiative has been running for a couple of years or more, but I have only recently found out about it.  My contribution is 6 collaged lino prints which are mounted on watercolour postcards.

One page fold book

Some months ago I made this little fold book out of an A3 sheet of cartridge paper.  Originally I had intended it to have a Christmassy theme, printed with holly and ivy leaves with berries, but it wasn't a success so ended up in my scraps folder.  Recently, at a loose end for ideas, I decided to glaze over it with completely different acrylic colours and added more printed patterns with white gesso.  With no plan in mind, I have picked it up in spare moments and randomly added more painted and printed scraps from my oddments stash.  (Finished size approx. 4" x 6 )

A couple of other artists using this style of folded booklet are Helen Wells and Sue Brown which you might find interesting.

Another quirky postcard collage

I have started to over-think these postcard collages instead of quickly just grabbing what comes to hand - not necessarily a good idea.  

Handprinted tissue, mulberry and cartridge paper,
acrylic, gel pens and machine stitch
 (Hahnemeuhle watercolour postcard 6" x 4")

Postcard collage

 Another collaged postcard - 

Lino printed tissue, paste paper, texture paste, sketch
and machine stitch (6" x 4" on Hahnemuehle postcard

I am enjoying making use some of my facial sketches in these small collages.

Postcard collage

 Another small collage using one of my Hahnemuehle postcards.

 

Printed and painted tissue, book page, scanned sketch,
gold gel pen, machine stitch (6" x 4")

Collaged postcards

Since I finished my collage journal last month I have missed the playfulness of cutting, tearing and sticking random oddments of painted papers.  I have a box of Hahnemuehle watercolour postcards which I have only used on a couple of occasions and the size of these appealed to me as a substrate for further paste and paper experiments.  I also added machine stitching for more texture and interest.

6" x 4" Hahnemeuhle watercolour postcards

Ink, acrylic, paste paper, lino print, stencilled
texture paste, gel pens and machine stitch

Ink, acrylic, gesso, lino print, foam stamps,
gel pens and machine stitch

The Collage Journal continues ...

 I have come to the end of my collage journal, although I am tempted to re-do the first couple of pages which are very uninspiring.  However, I am glad I worked through that stage and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge - thanks to Lydia Rink for sharing her process.

Now I had better get on and start replenishing my files of painted and printed papers for future collage experiments.

Collage Journal

I am not over-thinking these collage pages, just grabbing a few hand printed papers and other scraps from my folders and seeing what goes together.

Book page weaving, hand-printed paper (mainly tissue),
black and gold pens

More "Collage up your Journal" pages

 A couple more pages from my collage journal.

I liked the colour of this magazine image of a bowl and tied it in
with a background of some of my painted papers

A couple of sliced up/re-arranged lino prints on book pages

Another Collage Journal page

 

I tried using wallpaper paste as suggested by Lydia Rink - much easier to spread on thin/tissue papers than PVA, also allows a certain amount of re-positioning.  However, with several layers of collaged paper my pages became completely saturated and took an age to dry and flatten.  I now mix the paste with some PVA which provides a less watery consistency, but retaining the advantages of the wallpaper paste.

Collage journal continued

 Another couple of collage pages completed.

Paste paper, printed papers and a scanned sketch

The printed and stitched tissue paper background was done
a while ago, I just added the lettering shapes and 
the lino printed face

Painted and printed collage papers

I am joining another 5 day challenge - Collage Up Your Journal  being run by Lydia Rink.  I believe she uses a lot of letters and numerals in her work and a fairly subtle palette.  I spent a couple of hours printing and painting mulberry paper sheets using my lino cuts and foam stamps - all rather colourful, but they can always be toned down with further glazes if necessary.

World Book Night 2021

I have submitted a small piece for the exhibition and exchange organised for World Book Night 2021, entitled The Herbarium.

The subject - a flower (related to a poem, book or text) - could be made with paper, fabric, collage, drawn, printed or photographic, but measure no more than 8 x 8 cm (just over 3" square).  I used a cut-down version of the paper cast which decorated my artist's book about our local Snakes Head Fritillary Nature Reserve.  Fortunately, I still had a piece of the painted paper used on the cover of that book; this was glued to mount board to provide a sturdy base, plus the required means of hanging.

More details about the original artist's book can be seen here and here (scroll down in my Book Binding page).

A new floral lino print

 I drew out this clematis design some months ago and this week finally got down to cutting my lino (actually Softcut rather than traditional lino).

I have done some trial prints using gesso and white acrylic as my medium and these have been hand coloured and attached to A6 cards.

The one on the left was printed onto a scrap of previously painted and patterned paper which was a bit too busy as a background.  I used watercolour pencils to highlight the design, but it wasn't until I added silver acrylic ink outlining that I felt it was OK to use, although I might yet add stronger colour to the image. Next time I have a print session I will try a more subtle background.  

The print on the right was the white on black paper, then coloured with acrylic ink.

Christmas greetings

 I'm a bit late with my online greetings this year, but here's my effort for 2020.

Soft cut block (approx. 4.5" x 4"

Hahnemuhle bamboo paper background painted with fluid acrylics, plus
shimmering blue acrylic, overprinted using white gesso.
Additional details in gold, silver and blue gel pens.
Paper bow and fabric ribbon.

The printed baubles were cut out and glued to A6 cards.

I had thought I wouldn't be sending out as many cards this year, but I ran out of my handprinted version so used my design drawing to print extras on the computer, again adding metallic gel pens for a bit of sparkle.

Sketchbook collage and stitch

Again, I have raided my numerous scrap folders to complete these two pages which started with just the nasturtium test print on the righthand side.

From the left - testing out my sewing machine on a patchwork of heavily gesso'd and painted tissue paper; a lino printed book page; a paper cast flower; some practice Chinese brushwork flowers, cut out and collaged, with handsewn stems and leaves; lino print on painted tissue with ribbon threaded through holes punched through the page.

More doodling

 I decided to use a more restrained approach to the rest of this page spread.  Again, I used acrylic ink with a dip pen as well as adding areas of shading with dry Inktense pencils, then cross hatching with fine liner and gel pens.

Sketchbook catch-up

With various pre-Christmas tasks taking precedence, I have slipped behind with my sketchbook challenge.  However, I did start work on another spread last night.

This began with a scrap of painted and printed paper stitched onto the righthand page, Inktense pencils and gel pens emphasising the flower forms.  I decided to continue the spread with a floral-themed pattern using acrylic paint with lino, foam and cork stamps, followed up by some "demented doodling" using fine liner pens, acrylic ink and gel pens.  I am not sure I will have the patience to complete the left-hand page with quite the same level of detail!

Sketchbook experiments

Another spread almost complete.  Again, repurposed earlier work, with figures vaguely based on the type of traditional design used for playing cards. 

For the background I used a purchased stencil, the Queen and the four symbols are lino prints, the King and the Knave are mono printed using oil-based ink (with some added pencil details).  As my attempts at mono printing the Jester did not come out well, I used my Sharpie drawing instead, with colour pencil.

Sketchbook course continued

 I have watched all the 8 videos in this course now, but I believe I can refer back to them indefinitely.  I thoroughly enjoyed the tutorials and, although it is not my usual way of working, it's refreshing to try a different approach. There was a lot to take in and I am far from finishing my sketchbook, so I will take my time with it over the next few weeks.

This spread used collaged trial lino prints (with added pen patterning), foam and lino printed tissue, graphite rubbing and (just because it wasn't busy enough!) some text.

On this page I utilised oddments of foam and lino printed paper to create a still life collage.