Wednesday, October 5, 2011

More on the transformation

Akkk, I forgot to scan the swirly little tool that I used.  Now I cannot find it.  I wonder if it has been carried off by one of the four legged friends that sometimes come in here to see what I am doing.  I will show it when it comes back around.  If it's in any kind of condition.

Here, again, is my fabric after I did some monoprinting on it.  It is really too dark, I think I learned a little about using black over the entire surface of the plate.

I actually would like it better if I were doing a fabric collage and needed a good black fabric that was not solid.  But, that is not the case here.

Next, I am using a Shiva Paintstick in iridescent gold and a plastic rubbing plate.  I don't use these oil paint sticks nearly enough.  I do have a great tip for using them that has totally changed the way I feel about using them.  They have a "film" that gets over top of them after they sit for a while and it has to be peeled off before they will mark.  The film just completely encapsulates the oil paint so that the stick will not dry out and you have to throw it away.  I have some from ten years ago and getting that film off of them is hard, but underneath they are still usable.  Which, for me, is good, since I tend to jump from one art medium to another...often....

Okay, here is a tip for using the oil sticks.  Remove the entire cardboard, the whole thing.  All the way down the length of the stick.  Here is a picture of how it looks in the package and you can see that it is covered down the length with what basically is a light cardboard.


Here is another look at it with the cardboard off.


I always use a magazine or other padding underneath the plastic rubbing plate.  I don't know if it actually helps, but I think so.  Here is how to set it up to use the oil sticks.

Lay down a magazine, the rubbing plate, then the wrong side of the fabric on top of the plate.

Take the entire width of the oil stick and using it as flat to the fabric as you can, begin rubbing.  I used to use the tip, and I hated the big spaces that were left on the print.  This is the way to always get a good impression.

And, here she is.  It will take the oil impressions about five days or so to dry. 

Now, it's Alisha's turn and I will lay it aside to try and figure out what I might want to make out of it in the future.