Artist/Printmaker-Debra James Percival

“Purrrr”-Half Finished

Spent some time in the Studio. I am only half way in the printing process of finishing my Collagragh plate. I have not printed a Collagraph plate since the late 90’s. I forgot how much fun it is to print them. AND I forgot about my own advice “less is best” . I am talking about INK 🙂

Not all the prints will make the edition. But I like to play with everything until I am finished.

Here are some photos of what the prints look like at this stage of printing,

This is “Purrrr” so far, be back soon.
Happy Printmaking

TeaPot Series Signed

Rainy Day work 🙂 I think this is all of the Teapot Series. I have a lot of prints of other subjects left to sign in a pile. I will do another signing day soon.

“Fall Picnic” teapot series
22×30 inches full sheet

“Picnic In the Woods”
Each are half a sheet size.

“Why am I Sitting on Myself”
18×24 inches

“Midnight Tea”
Copper etching on a sheet of paper 18×24 inches

“Raining Again”
Printed on a full sheet of paper.

“Gossip Line”
Aluminum etching and Stencil
Each print is a half sheet of paper.

A lot of the Teapot Series was printed on old inked paper from many years ago. Prints “Picnic Love” and “Opps” where printed on the backgrounds left over from an edition in 1996.

Happy Printing Everyone. Be back with “Purrrr:)”

“Purrrr:)” collagraph plate Finished.

I am finished working on “Purrrr:)” Next week it will be fun printing it. Anything goes for ways of printing a Collagraph plate: Intaglio, relief and painting are my favorites.

A look at some of the materials I used. Floor linoleum, string, elastics, woven plastic, cheese cloth, and a piece of plastic litho plate for the fish..

Just adding this plate for interest. – It is woven Stonehenge paper and coated with 3 coats of screen filler and one on the back to help with clean up. I printed 9 prints inked like an intaglio and the plate is still in good condition for more printing.

Have lots of fun playing with possibles 🙂
Here is a link to the Studio I print at: https://www.ottawagatineauprintmakers.ca/print-studio/

Collagraph – putting it together

My shape is cut from an old piece of linoleum. If I was teaching, I would tell you to put 3 light coats of screen filler on. The heaver the coats the longer it takes to dry. And I would say 10 minutes or dry to the touch between coats. Also, you can play with paintbrush strokes -because when you ink up the plate like an Intaglio, they are a nice effect. Play 🙂

My plastic woven material does not want to stick and it wants to fall apart. But I really want to use it.

Sometimes I get impatient and the good news – I got away with it. I put plastic wrap on the plate and a stack of books to flatten my cat. Be careful not to leave it too long. And peel the plastic wrap off slowly.

I love draping cheesecloth. To help with a little less mess, you can put your fabric of choose in a bag and pour some medium into the bag and squish it around till coated.

Nope, I just do not like the plastic fern stuff enough to fuss trying to make it stick. Glad it did not work right away.

This is how the plate is right now. Maybe I will cut the top off the vase, or perhaps play with it. Just going to let it be today and come back to it another day.
Meanwhile, I would like you to check out this lovely sharing site.
The Curious Printmaker : https://www.thecuriousprintmaker.co.uk/
Happy Printmaking!

collagraph – stuff

I have an idea now and a name for the future collagraph print “Purrrrr :)”

Not everything in the pile shown in the above picture will be used in the making of the Collagraph plate. But I am chuckling to myself because – just above the computer that I am typing on is an image I printed in 2004, using some of the same materials in a mixed media and copper etching. Laughing – because I have moved twice (downsizing) from a house to a townhouse to an apartment. I know what is important to keep! I need that plastic woven fabric for this callagraph.

I use a lot of Speedball Screen Filler when I put my Collagraph plates together. There are lots of other mediums a printmaker can use. But my favorite is Screen Filler. I will photo demonstrate with photos when I blog again.

And here is the Print I mentioned:

Copper Etching and Mixed Media “Just Resting”

And an old Collagraph:

Collagraph “Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble” 2006

Collagraph “Need a Pair of Scissors” 2001

Happy Printing 🙂

Playing with Ink :) Again!

I loved sharing how I made my art in the past in an old blog. When Terry got sick, I got sick in a different way along with him. My Terry had Alzheimer’s +.

It will be a slow start, so check back in a few weeks for a playful approach to Collagraph.

until then, here are a couple of prints I played with this year.

The backgrounds were inked paper from many years ago. I had fun adding a playful image with stencils to the foreground.

Lots and lots of Ink! 🙂

They are a part of my “Tea Party Series”