A real blog! Like most artists (or everyone), I have a tumblr and instagram that I post progress and finished pieces to, but it never seems like the right platform to write much more than "i like cats! here is a cat that i drew!". So, I thought I'd talk a little about my process on my most recent project, which was a bit of a failure in final product but success in learning.
Since my first year at Emily Carr I've been obsessed with black ink and metal leaf. My first attempt was frustrating, and so was my second, and third... and still to this day the thin, weightless, static-y pain-in-the-ass material messes with me. Nothing is quite so reflective and bright and alive as real metal though, so I keep trying.
Lately my process with wood panels is to do some sort of primer or gesso, and transfer a sketch straight onto that. I use Glenn Arthur's method - I'm not sure if he's transferring straight to wood, onto a primed surface, or what (probably the latter) - but for me it loosely translates as this:
1. Have a sketch.
2. Flip that sketch over on a lightbox or window so that it's backwards.
3. Tape tracing paper over it.
4. With a soft mechanical pencil (or anything fairly precise, but soft preferred so it transfers well), trace over the key lines of the sketch.
5. Tape the tracing paper onto the panel graphite side down, and rub the shit out of it. Glenn recommends doing this with a blending stump, but I don't have any, so toilet paper worked fine.
I primed the wood with GAC 100 which is a gluey medium recommended for sealing surfaces before gesso-ing. This made it a lot harder to transfer than onto raw wood or gesso as I'd previously done (I wanted to maintain the wood grain), and had to just rub the hell out of it with the knuckle of my thumb. Worked in the end, though. Carbon transfer paper would probably work also but I like the transparency of this method, especially when it's hard to erase stray lines.
I then started lining with my Pentel pocket brush, which was a little messy on the GAC 100, but still a better time then trying to apply it to raw plywood (which bleeds to hell). It did tend to pool or blot, and it was hard to drag my hand smoothly along the canvas with full arm movements when the surface was so tacky. I let the ink dry overnight since the surface was so waterproof.
The next day I used my metal leaf size and applied it everywhere required with a small brush. Give it 40 minutes to get clear, dry-ish, and tacky, then press a sheet of leaf on top. You can even fill gaps or collage with scraps of leaf, it'll all look the same in the end. An hour or two to dry sticks it well enough to begin burnishing the excess away with a brush - I used a soft watercolour one to push the leaf up to the edge of where it was stuck, and a stiffer brush to brush along the lines and wipe the excess all off. This part is especially meditative and enjoyable, but it turns out it will also smudge ink... f$%#$@. Definitely seal bleed-prone materials before burnishing off metal leaf. Acrylic paint has been fine, inks not so much.
The end result is pretty dazzling and gorgeous to walk by in the light, flipping from silver to gold to a deep brass. However, I'd like to refine the method for working with ink on panel, and getting a really clean edge on the leaf. I'll seal this one with a thin, glassy coat of resin and it'll be for sale later this week!
about 9 x 8", I still need to cut down the panel
Since my first year at Emily Carr I've been obsessed with black ink and metal leaf. My first attempt was frustrating, and so was my second, and third... and still to this day the thin, weightless, static-y pain-in-the-ass material messes with me. Nothing is quite so reflective and bright and alive as real metal though, so I keep trying.
Lately my process with wood panels is to do some sort of primer or gesso, and transfer a sketch straight onto that. I use Glenn Arthur's method - I'm not sure if he's transferring straight to wood, onto a primed surface, or what (probably the latter) - but for me it loosely translates as this:1. Have a sketch.
2. Flip that sketch over on a lightbox or window so that it's backwards.
3. Tape tracing paper over it.
4. With a soft mechanical pencil (or anything fairly precise, but soft preferred so it transfers well), trace over the key lines of the sketch.
5. Tape the tracing paper onto the panel graphite side down, and rub the shit out of it. Glenn recommends doing this with a blending stump, but I don't have any, so toilet paper worked fine.
I primed the wood with GAC 100 which is a gluey medium recommended for sealing surfaces before gesso-ing. This made it a lot harder to transfer than onto raw wood or gesso as I'd previously done (I wanted to maintain the wood grain), and had to just rub the hell out of it with the knuckle of my thumb. Worked in the end, though. Carbon transfer paper would probably work also but I like the transparency of this method, especially when it's hard to erase stray lines.
I then started lining with my Pentel pocket brush, which was a little messy on the GAC 100, but still a better time then trying to apply it to raw plywood (which bleeds to hell). It did tend to pool or blot, and it was hard to drag my hand smoothly along the canvas with full arm movements when the surface was so tacky. I let the ink dry overnight since the surface was so waterproof.
The next day I used my metal leaf size and applied it everywhere required with a small brush. Give it 40 minutes to get clear, dry-ish, and tacky, then press a sheet of leaf on top. You can even fill gaps or collage with scraps of leaf, it'll all look the same in the end. An hour or two to dry sticks it well enough to begin burnishing the excess away with a brush - I used a soft watercolour one to push the leaf up to the edge of where it was stuck, and a stiffer brush to brush along the lines and wipe the excess all off. This part is especially meditative and enjoyable, but it turns out it will also smudge ink... f$%#$@. Definitely seal bleed-prone materials before burnishing off metal leaf. Acrylic paint has been fine, inks not so much.
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