Last week I mentioned a learning experience with sun printing, a lesson presented in my local art group. This week I’ll describe more of what I‘m learning.
WARNING – If you are hoping for words based on expertise. . . uh oh! This will not be that kind of post. This is a new process to me, and I am muddling through, learning what’s possible and what’s not.
I think a curiosity-based approach is useful for artmaking, both in the conceptual stage and in the materials/methods stage. Start at the beginning. Give it a try. Ask some questions: (Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if . . .”) Try to take it further.
My beginning with sun printing was having no idea how the process works. I am familiar with methods of photographic printing by exposure to light; cyanotype and similar methods work because of a chemical reaction between what is put on the fabric and the UV rays of the sun. But the sun printing I am learning is different. It uses acrylic paint. This is especially interesting to me because I like using all acrylics; it allows me to explore variety in image-making without introducing new chemistry or equipment to my studio.
Through my limited hands-on experiments and a bit of research, I’ve learned that sun printing with acrylics is NOT a photographic process. It works because of the varying drying times of the exposed fabric vs the areas covered up. The exposed areas dry faster, wicking the moisture (and, with it, the pigments that are part of the liquid) away from the covered up areas.
What’s amazing to me is the edge crispness and the details possible.
Fabric Experiment #1: FISH. BEGINNING. Here was my first printed piece.
I had rolled my acrylic paint onto the muslin loose, wet and fast. I placed small card stock and paper fish on the paint and put it out to dry. On a hot Florida day in the summer it took about thirty-five minutes.
Next: FISH – ASKING QUESTIONS. When I got my sample printed piece home, I was very pleased at the clarity of the shapes. I wondered if I could make it more interesting by sun-printing a second layer. Would that work?
I mixed up some teal paint close to my original color but with a bit more yellow. (By the way: many of the artists in our group used high flow acrylics that are ultra-thin, ink-like and heavily pigmented, such as Golden Fluid Acrylics. That’s another variable to try. I’m just sticking with my regular paints.)
I realized right away that I would either have to cover up my original fish before applying the new color overprint (so they don’t disappear) or keep my overprint transparent and liquid so the original fish would still show through. I did a bit of both.
And the results: Not at all what I had hoped.
I can experiment more with varying degrees of wetness in the overpaint. But, what I see is that the wicking property of the fabric works far less well once there is already paint on the fabric.
Good news: The fabric above is now more interesting than the original, with more depth. I can print more fish or other things on top with other methods. Plus, the back of the fabric is also interesting and usable. Here’s the back:
Fabric Experiment #2: STENCILS AND GEARS. BEGINNING. Here was my first printed piece.
Again, I wondered if I could sun print another layer. I decided to try a complementary color for more punch. I rolled it on, applied some new stencils, and put it out on the sidewalk: (Below, you can see the already-printed images with the new orange overpaint and card stock stencils sitting on top.)
Results: Almost nuthin. No new images appeared.
BUT. . . I decided just to overprint with acrylic paint through the stencils to get more depth. I think this is a pretty interesting piece.
(Note: In the picture above, the C F A 5 6 7 were sun printed. All the other images are the layers I just painted on top, directly through the stencils.)
I was going to try more experiments this weekend. Alas – cloudy and rainy all-day Saturday. No new sun printing for me. I’ll have to put off more experiments for the future.
. . . . . .
A reminder invitation: Eight of my quilts, as well as a delightful assortment of animal-inspired artwork by Jennifer Steck, are available for viewing through September 3 at Artburst.com in the BOUTIQUE. I’m enjoying this chance to introduce my work to new people.
For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
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