PaperArtsy: 2015 Topic #11: Hidden Objects {Challenge}

I have had this idea in my head for sometime now. I am fascinated by small garden birds and the idea that they will take advantage of man made nest boxes. Last year we were honoured to have a family of Great Tits nest and bring up their family in the box we have in our garden. They have not come back this year, but there have been Gold finches flying around our street. This has got me thinking and drawing and will contribute to enough material to keep me going for several prints. So for my…

I have challenged my printmaking groups to combine collagraph prints with gum arabic transfers. They have made a set of small plates, these are 3in x 3in, using tile cement, carborundum and wood glue, then simply intaglio printed using one or two colours, I have also used dress pattern tissue as chine collee. When the prints are dry I have added some gum arabic transfer elements in gold and silver ink. Really sparking off some ideas for me.

For the past few months I have been dabbling with Gum Arabic transfer onto fabric together with the odd collagraph print and have been...

Gum Arabic transfer is a method of printmaking. You can use gum Arabic and printmaking ink to transfer an image from a photocopy to another surface. The resulting gum prints have an appealing, painterly quality.

Gum Arabic transfer which is also know as paper lithography or xerox lithography is a quick way to make prints. Your paper photocopy actually becomes your plate when the gum arabic interacts with the toner and raises it slightly off the paper. You can get two or three transfers from one photocopy if you are careful in your plate preparations. If you want several copies of the same print it is a good idea to have more than one photocopy ready. The following instructions are a combination of…