Koi Drawings

As I continue developing my work for a 40" x 40" "Crossings" challenge, the red circles on the background fabric suggested bubbles to me (see  Step #1, Step #2,, Step #3, Step 4, and Step 5) .   My thoughts turned to fish.  I first conceived of salmon going upstream to spawn, but the faces of salmon seem almost mean to me.  When I think of lovely fish, koi always seem to come to mind. Koi swim over and under each other and cross through ponds of lily pads. That idea stuck with me so I set about sketching a couple of these fish. The images that evolved were from my memories of koi fish.  They are not meant to be anatomically correct. 

I first pencil sketched a couple of koi images on paper and then poster printed the sketches. 

The koi that was to become orange was printed on a 2x2 poster print setting.  The pages were then taped together and color was added with Inktense pencils.

 I also printed the koi that was to become red in the same manner; however, because of it's curve it needed to be printed in a 3x3 poster setting.

Tomorrow I will post about transferring the drawings to fabric and painting them with Setacolor fabric paints.
Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Foam #5

Adding Salt for Texture

(For those who are just now joining in you can follow along from the beginning by linking to:  Step #1, Step #2, and Step #3  and Step 4.)

While the fabric was still saturated with layers of Setacolor fabric paint washes, I took out my improvised shaker of kosher salt that had been a taco sauce bottle.

Converted Taco Sauce Bottle

To make the bottle into a shaker I used an awl to punch holes in the lid.

Bottle Cap Top with Punched Holes

I then sprinkled salt all over the wet fabric.

Shaking Salt onto Wet Paint Washes

I usually do this step with the fabric in sunlight, but it was night and I wanted to see if the salt would draw up color without the benefit of the sunlight magic.  It worked, although not as dramatically as if the sun had been on it.  For the purpose of this work, the result was fine.  Yay!  Hard "edges" of color were softened and visual texture was created.

Close-up:  Result of Adding Salt to Paint Washings

Tomorrow I will post about a couple of images that I want to applique to this block printed,  painted background fabric.
Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Foam #4

Three Layers of Transparent Wash

The first picture in this post is the printed fabric with three overlays of color.  It's rather like eating dessert first and then having dinner.  What follows is how the wash overlays were accomplished.

If you have been following along with my series of 31 Day Block Writing posts about block printing with foam, please bear with me as I reference earlier steps for those who are just now joining in.   To follow along from the beginning link to:  Step #1, Step #2, and Step #3 here.

Step 4 of using the block prints in a large work involved using simple tools.

Tools

Spray Bottle with Clear Water

 

Inexpensive Brushes from a Home Improvement Store

I first sprayed the entire piece of fabric with clear water to make it quite damp.  In a canning jar I then made a mixture of Setacolor Lemon Yellow a very few drops of Setacolor Bright Orange transparent fabric paint, and then mixed it with clear water in a 1:1 ratio of paint-to-water.  Then the paint brush was dunked into the paint/water mixture and washed across the entire fabric.

Partial Overlay of Yellow/Orange Wash

Once the fabric was completely washed with the Yellow/Orange color, the fabric was quite wet.  That actually turned out to be a good thing because it allow the next wash of Setacolor Cobalt Blue to migrate in a serendipitous manner into the Yellow/Orange wash .  I mixed the blue fabric paint in the same 1:1 paint-to-water mixture as I did with the yellow/orange fabric paint.  Here it is, ready to use, in a canning jar.

Jar to Mix and Store Fabric Paint

Partial Wash of Setacolor Cobalt Blue over 1st Wash of Setacolor Yellow/Orang

Here is what the two transparent layers of washes over the block printed fabric looked like.

Setacolor Cobalt Blue Randomly Added

Note:  My work surface was not wide enough to lay out the entire fabric, so I covered 2" thick insulation board with a plastic drop cloth, put that on top of my table and it was a perfect size to work on.

I failed to mention in my earlier posts that because of the to-be-announced theme, I believed that there needed to be intersecting lines.  To achieve this, I taped 3 pieces of 8.5" x 11" card stock together lengthwise, cut out a 7/8" strip with a craft knife and used it as a template to paint black strips to visually define the levels

Tomorrow I will blog about the finishing touches to this background piece.

Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

 Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Foam #3

Auditioning Color Overlays

If this is the first time you are visiting my blog about Block Printing with Foam, you can find the beginning stages of step #1 HERE and step #2 HERE.

Today I am going to take you through the process of auditioning colors that I might use as washes over the initial printing.  I first printed 4 blocks that would be used solely to determine colors for the 40" x 40" piece that I am creating.

In each instance Setacolor transparent fabric paints were used to make washes with a paint-to-water ratio of 1:1. On all but one of the blocks I first laid down a wash of Lemon Yellow.  No picture is shown for that. 

Option #1

Lemon Yellow with a Swath of Cobalt Blue

Option #2

Lemon Yellow with 3 Drops of Bright Orange and Cobalt Blue around Circles

Option #3

Yellow with Light Wash of Cobalt Blue and Denser Diagonal Swath of Blue

Option #4

Cobalt Blue Wash--No Underlay of Yellow

Ultimately, I chose to work with a combination of the colors in Option #1 and Option #3.  When I am able to show the finished work in the future, it will become evident why I chose those colors to augment expression of the theme.

Darn it.  I wish I could tell you what the theme is so that you might better understand what influenced my choices. Ah, such a mystery.  I assure you that the final work will be shown in the future.  For those of you who follow along, you will know exactly how it came to be.

Note:  These posts are my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to Cheryl Sleboda's:  http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved

Block Printing with Craft Foam #2

This post is a continuation from yesterday's post.  Here I have made multiple printings from the three blocks cut from sticky backed craft foam.  To see the process for cutting the blocks click HERE.

These are the tools used in printing the blocks.

 

In the past I have used a brayer to apply the paint, but recently I have been using a foam roller from a home improvement store with good results.  The tray onto which I poured the paint is a hard plastic one that I salvaged from a food product package.  The paint is contained within its raised edges and it rinses off very easily.  

I marked off a grid pattern with soft pencil lines on a large swath of white fabric. Then I printed multiples of the circles block with Cardinal Red Setacolor fabric paint.

Next I printed the broad striped block over the circle block with Black Lake Setacolor fabric paint.

When that printing was dry, I printed over the circle and broad striped blocks with the narrower, diagonal strip block with Light Green Setacolor fabric paint.

I then cut rows of blocks apart, lined up the prints and sewed the rows together.  Because I am creating a work to address the challenge theme of "Crossings", I cut a 3/4" wide and long stencil  from card stock and stenciled the horizontal lines with  the same Lake Black Setacolor fabric paint that I had used  for the broad striped block prints.

Tomorrow I will post about auditioning colors to use in over-painting.  These posts are the beginnings of my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved