I want to show you my process from start to finish of this print. Not only the good outcomes, but also when things don’t go quite right in my work.
My new print Summer Haze was inspired by the annual sight here in the Cotswolds of the Rapeseed flowers in full bloom. Although the flowers themselves are not particularly pretty, the visual explosion of colour that you see when a whole field is in bloom is a stunning sight.
I like to begin all my prints by gathering information with a drawing trip. Often my prints are inspired by something I see on a walk, and this was no exception.
From my drawings I started work on a test print. I find this very useful when creating the larger pieces, (they also create a set of lovely little prints, for those who don’t have room for my larger works!) which I was really pleased with, so just scaled it up.
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that this worked so well as a composition. I was really disappointed by this, my intention with this print had been to capture the vibrancy of colour, which it did, but I felt lacked in composition.
Lesson learnt! The devil is in the detail as the saying goes and this didn’t have enough. It was a good lesson to learn, although frustrating at the time. Not every print works, especially with Collagraph, there are elements that only show themselves on that first print.
That is why I love print, there is an excitement and anticipation when you first print a plate. There is always something that you couldn’t control, something the print gives you that you didn’t plan. This is often my favourite part of any print!
Luckily, I was much happier with my second attempt.
It was a tricky print to ink up, I don’t make my life easy by having lots of colours. Trying to keep the vibrancy of the yellow was a challenge as every other colour wanted to mix with it.
I used rollers of darker tones to run over the background colour of the leaves and flowers to create a sense of depth. This gave an excuse to use my new, huge roller, recently purchased from Hawthorn Print suppliers which worked perfectly on the yellow.
I am finally happy with my new print, I will probably chop up the first, unsuccessful one to make a smaller prints, I often do! I hate waste.
Summer Haze is now off to the framers and will be on show at my two upcoming exhibitions at Gardens Gallery, Cheltenham. My first is with the Artforce Collective 9th - 15th March and the second is a print exhibition entitled – Eden, starting on 31st March 2022.
To purchase this print, click on the link below.