collargraph printing for my tour de France project

a collagraph is a print that is made by sticking different materials and building layers of shapes onto a strong backing, somewhat like a collage. the word actually comes from the French "colle" witch quintessentially means to stick or glue. The best collagraph's are when they have variety of texture, this is created by different materials and media that you use to stick down  onto your strong piece of card of wood.

I will be looking at an artist called Brenda Hartill  who is a collagraph print maker who also does etching. I will be looking at her work for inspiration and tips on how to do my collagraph print. while I was doing some artist research on her I Came across this ling.  
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hNaf9KmT-s"        "one of Brenda's pieces"
with in this video line that Brenda has made herself I have learnt a lot more about her techniques and found them rather interesting.

Health and safety 
there isn't anything very dangerous about collagraphing or creating a collagraph. However it would be best while cutting if you are using a craft knife to always make sure your fingers are well away from the blade, and if cutting a straight line use a metal ruler.(like the one shown in the picture. Also when it comes to printing if you are using a printing bed always remember to keep your hands on the spinning wheel as it has been known, for the metal plate the your print is placed on, to fall onto the floor and could hurt your feet. And never place your hands near the roller as the print bed is moving as your fingers could get trapped/crushed.

My work and attempts.

this is my collargraph that I made. I have used the wheels from my sketch book primary research and development sheets and also tried to do it more abstracts like Brenda Hartill. I am not yet sure how this will turn out however I am hopeful that i will get a variety of texture in my print. I have used cartridge paper, crinkled card, wool, a small bit of risen patterned paper and a piece of string.

I plan on using mainly yellow to continue my theme from my sketch book and development sheets. however I will try adding black on the risen parts to make the different texture stand out more.
I have now gone over my collagraph with PVA and then varnished it to seal. ( It is important that you varnish your collargraph as it helps to seal and keep your pieces stuck down)

The picture on the right shows my used collagraph and my unsuccessful prints. before I get on to my prints there where a few things I had to learn before I attempted. 
1.) We placed latex gloves on are hands to prevent ink staining skin.
2.) Using water based inks I was shown to roll out water based inks on a newspaper covered surface.
3.) Using a few centimeter long and thick, piece of card to scrape up bits of the ink and scrape the ink onto my collagraph.
4.) using pieces of newspaper or magazine, rubbed the excess of ink off my collagraph.
5.)using cartridge paper that had been placed in water then in between material to dry  I placed my collagraph face down and then placing a piece of card and thick fabric over the top of my collargraph then rolled it through the print bed.
6.) peel back the thick fabric and card then carefully separate the collagraph from the paper to revile my print, then leave to dry.
My prints went wrong as I put too much ink on my first attempt and not enough on my second. I do stress that with any printing method it is trial and error and getting used to how much ink you need to apply. Another thing that went wrong with my prints is that I didn't raise my pattern enough and that is why my black bled onto my yellow back ground. However I do like the effects I have gotten as i feel they look more abstract, a bit like Brenda Hartill. 

I have only done collagragh once before, and that was in my first year of college. it didn't work out then either however i am glad i gave it another go even though it didnt go to plan. i have said this before and I will say it again for all art it is mostly about trial and error. which is what i love most about art as it allows us to learn more everyday we try. i hope you have enjoyed this blog entry. :)