Collagraph Printmaking Workshop

©Susanne Clark
 Blue Totem

I recently gave a Collagraph Printmaking workshop for the Don Valley Art Club here in Toronto. There were ten participants in the group and everyone worked very enthusiastically and really seemed to enjoy it.

At the end of any workshop I give I ask the participants to fill out a short evaluation form covering all the usual things, including whether they got good value for the money spent, and I also ask for comments on how I could improve the workshop.  Because I want people to be genuine and able to critique and not feel that they just have to say something nice, they have the option to fill it in and be anonymous or they can give their name.

I got really nice reviews and amazingly everyone gave their name and permission to use it in any publicity about upcoming workshops.  There were also a couple of comments.  One was that they would have preferred that there were less participants in the group.  I understand that as there is a lot of information to cover and people like a lot of one on one help.  Also we only had one press and for a large group that meant that there were often people waiting to use it. When a workshop is done for an Art Club they need a good number of attendees to make it worthwhile financially.

The other suggestion was that perhaps I should have had a theme for people to work with.  I found this suggestion interesting and is the main reason for this blog post.  Because collagraph printmaking is based loosely on collage, (a printing plate is formed by attaching various papers and creating textures on a support that you use to print the image from) one of the first things to learn is how these textures actually print when inked up.  Do the materials print light or dark, is there too much ink on the plate, do the shapes and textures read well etc. For people who new to collagraph printmaking trying to create a successful image with a Theme before they know how the process works, seems to me, to be attempting too much.   I believe that it is better to work spontaneously without worrying about the end result and then see what you discover.

I would be interested to hear your comments.  Theme or no theme at the beginning of the learning process?


Cello Paintings
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/susanne-clark.html

Quirky Fun Collagraphs of 1920's Ladies

© Susanne Clark  - The Ladies
Collagraph - Varied Open Edition

Some time back I created "The Ladies" a Collagraph showing two women with a 1920's look.  I wrote about them in a post called "I'm in Flap About Flappers".    The name "Flappers," I believe, comes from the popular fashion of the time of wearing floppy bows around the head.

People often think these are paintings but Collagraph is a form of hand pulled printmaking based on collage.  You can  read about the process on my web site. Each print is hand inked and printed on a printing press  Even though I can use the same plate to pull many prints from, each one is inked in a different set of colours and so is a unique work of art.

After creating "The Ladies" I decided it would be fun to do a few more in the same theme so I went ahead and made the collagraph plates ready for printing.  In the previous post I hadn't actually printed the new works but since then I have, and also added more "Ladies" to the series. Because the ladies are only very loosely based on the 1920's style I have been able to have fun with their design, making them look slightly  sexy and with exaggerated bows and hats.  The first prints I pulled all sold so this week I printed up some new ones and I'm quite pleased with the result.  I will be exhibiting them at several art shows around Toronto in the next few months.  Details are on my web site.

© Susanne Clark  - Fancy Flappers
 Collagraph - Varied Open Edition

My intention is to add more photos of "The Ladies" to my web site along with the current pieces that I have available from the Kimono Series.

Please share this post, or any others you find interesting, with your friends or people you think would be interested.  As an artist I really appreciate any help in getting my work out into the world.

Collagraph Printmaking



Susanne Clark - Soaring Into The Blue
©2011 Susanne Clark
Collagraph Print on Paper -  8 x 8 in -  $75.00


Last Friday night I gave a talk to an art society group about my art and printmaking.  In the first half I talked about my painting process and showed some photographs.  I set up the pictures in Power Point and connected to their projector.  The color was a complete disaster which was a pity.  It appears that they find it hard to get the color right when using the projector so in the future if I am asked to do this again for a smallish group, I will take my own monitor and use that, then I know that the colors will show correctly. 

The second part of the presentation was about printmaking.  I mainly make collagraph prints, a form of printmaking, which as the name suggests, comes from collage.  I took a variety of my prints and also some examples of the collagraph plates that I make to print the images from.   As usual everyone fell in love with the actual plates.  I think it is the texture and depth of the plates after they have been printed that is so appealing.  Because printmaking, and especially collagraph, is less familiar to many artists I think it was probably the most interesting part of the talk. 

To brighten up this post I have added a photo of a small collagraph that I experimented with last week.  I wanted to try using printing ink in a very transparent way.  It's part of a larger plate that I wasn't happy with so I cropped the image down.  It ended up being very simple but I think it has a very optimistic feel.  Does it  feel that way to you?

Painting and Printmaking:
My New Studio Space

It may be on the small side but it's still great to have my own studio space. My first project will be to try printmaking on board instead of paper. I have primed a nice smooth board and I'm working on what I want to put on it. It's been hard to get into the studio with so much else going on since we moved here. Our non paying tenant in Atlanta finally left and we have re-let the house so now we can move on with our life.

Collagraph Artists Proofs

I have just pulled another collagraph print of 'Breathe'. This one is a much brighter version. I now have four options to submit to the 'Trees in Art' National Exhibition here in Atlanta and I have to decide which one to go with. I would have liked to do a painting to enter but somehow this print just asked to be done. I only hope that the judges actually realise what I am trying to say and don't just think it is an odd looking little tree. Here are the last two variations.

The Green Version

After printing up two or three versions of my 'lung tree' in blues I decided to do a green version which is probably more in keeping with the ecological idea. I think my name for this piece will be 'Breathe'.

Which one do you like best?

Trees - Lungs of the Earth

I have just spent the morning printmaking. There is an upcoming exhibition with the theme "Trees" and although I don't usually do trees I thought it would be fun to have something to submit. I also wanted to create a piece with a slight ecological twist and because trees breathe I decided to combine lungs and a tree shape and put it into a landscape. Here is the result so far. Below the image you will find the process described.



The picture doesn't show up all the colours that well however after proofing it twice I am now reasonably happy with it. Here is the process I used for making a collagraph print.

After drawing out the design on mat board I cut into the trunk and branch areas where I wanted the shapes to be raised. Remember that in the printing process everything is in reverse. Anything cut deep into the printing plate becomes raised after printing and the raised areas of the plate become deep, plus the image is reversed. I then built up the landforms and added carborundum where I wanted the very dark area. Once the plate was finished and had been covered with shellac to seal it I was ready to ink it up. The first colour was deep blue which went over the whole plate filling all the cracks and branches. After wiping off most of the blue ink then I rolled over the whole plate with a transparent green and then followed up with another roll of light creamy orange. This last colour I will make stronger next time I print it to bring out the definition more and to warm the whole thing up.

I need a good name for this work. Any ideas ?

Just as an afterthought, I have trouble deciding how to spell things in these posts. Should I use the English spelling of words or the American way now that I am living in the US. Somehow I just couldn't bring myself to write colour as color today. Perhaps another time.

Abstract Painting

I feel this piece is finished although after a few more days I will probably find something I want to change. Next week I will be back into printmaking. I have some ideas I am eager to try out.

I have finally set the dates for my two printmaking workshops at the Atlanta Artists Center. The first one, Simple Printmaking Without a Press, will be on Saturday January 17th. In mid March I will do the Collagraph Printmaking Workshop which will be two full days. The dates for this are March 22nd and 23rd. I'm really looking forward to doing both these workshops. Once all the info is up on the AAC web site I will put a link here to it.

Musical Themed Collagraph

At last I have been able to get back into the studio and do some printmaking. You may remember, if you have been following my blog, that I spent some time building a set of four musical themed collagraph plates to print as one image. I printed up a couple but then got busy with some paintings and other stuff and never got to printing up all four together. Yesterday I pulled two prints from them but was pretty disappointed with them both. I was experimenting with viscosity roll ups starting with an intaglio in dark blue, followed with a hard roller roll up in red, followed by a soft one in yellow. The idea was for them all to overlay and create some beautiful greens and purples as well as the colors that I used however that didn't happen. While doing the first one I was interrupted and the paper dried out a bit and the inks too, so the image isn't as sharp or dense. Also the yellow didn't blend with the blue in many places and so is just too bright. The second one I did in the same manner but used a cad yellow and cad red to try and dull it down a bit but it is still too bright. The great thing about all this though is how much you learn each time you proof a plate. The other challenge with this print is the size relative to the size of my press. The image is 32 inches long and the press bed is only 36 inches so it was difficult to get the paper trapped under the roller, get the plates tucked in close and then have some room left at the other end to hold the roller on the print bed once the print has been rolled through. I think I will have another attempt to print this plate but ink it up in my usual way and then see how it turns out.

Collagraph Printmaking Workshop

I have just finished writing up the info for a collagraph printmaking workshop that I am going to give early next year at the Atlanta Artists Center. The dates are not set yet but it will be a two day workshop on a weekend in either January or February. I am quite excited about doing this as I really like to teach and I think collagraph is a fantastic form of printmaking. What is particularly great about it that even absolute beginners get wonderful and exciting results that look very professional. Once everything is confirmed I will post the info.

Collagraph Printmaking Workshop at AAC

After showing several of my recent collagraphs and printworks at local art shows it has been suggested that I give some workshops at the AAC or Atlanta Artists Center. I really enjoy teaching and so I am really enthusiatic to go ahead and do this in the near future. My intention is to give two workshops. One will be printmaking using processes that don't need a press and the other will be a two day basic collagraph printmaking class.

In the past I used to teach classes in art for personal development and enhanced creativity. I did this for nine years both in Ottawa and Toronto, Canada. It was great and I met some wonderful people who over time became very special friends.

Once I decide on dates I will post the info here. Meanwhile, I have work on show at Heaven Blue Rose Gallery and will have my piece Golden Geisha in the upcoming AAC National Show.

Art with a Musical Theme
"Musical Collagraph in Blue"

I have been working on a musical collagraph made up of four plates. You may have seen two previous posts with photos and info about the process. In the first post I show the plates in the very beginning stage. The second post shows the plates when they are finished and sealed. I have now made one proof of two of the plates together and will try out a test proof of all four together this week. After all the time involved in making the plates it is interesting to see how they look when I print them. It's not always a happy moment. Sometimes it's very dissapointing. These look ok but I need to improve the way I have printed it. It's printed up in blue hence the name "Musical Collagraph in Blue."

I seem to be hooked on a musical theme at present in my paintings and art work. Every now and then I have fun doing some more abstract pieces and I am working up to a series featuring figures.

Last months winner of a free print is awindchimer. I will be emailing you to get your address so I can send it to you.

If you would like to be in for the chance to win something sign up for email updates to my blog.

New Collagraph Print
"Under the Hot Sun"

Called "Under the Hot Sun" this carborundum collagraph print was done for an exhibition called 'Parch -Thirst of the Earth' which opens August 21 at the Heaven Blue Rose Gallery in Roswell, north of Atlanta. I was trying to convey the 'parched' theme of the exhibition.

The actual image is 14 inches square. It was first inked up in red in the intaglio manner and then wiped. Next I carefully added a rubbing of deep blue in selected places followed by a roll up of bright yellow. I then charged the roller with a light whitish blue ink to which I added extra blue to one end of the roller to give a graduated color roll up. The yellow roll up mixed in parts with the deep blue making greens and with the red making some purple shades. It looked great on the plate but I was eager to see how it would print. After all the time it takes to ink up the plate I am always anxious to see how well it has printed. I was really pleased with the result this time especially as this was my third proofing attempt to get the plate to print in a way I would be happy with. The name "Under the Hot Sun" seemed appropriate.

I also printed up another small piece called "Red Rain." This will also be in the exhibition.

Atlanta Artists Center National Exhibition

I have just had a piece accepted in the Atlanta Artists Center annual national exhibition called the "National View at Grandview". There were 78 pieces chosen from 35 states. The exhibition at the AAC in Buckhead runs Tuesday, August 26 - Tuesday, September 30, 2008. The opening reception is Saturday September 6, 2008 (6-8 PM).

For those of you who live in the Atlanta area it should be an interesting exhibition to visit as it appears that the juror, Paula J. Katz, assistant Curator of Art at The Columbus Museum in Columbus, GA, chose a wide variety of different media to be shown.

I have been waiting for a very exciting printmaking accessory to arrive. It's a large roller which is used to roll on a final layer, or more, of ink to a printmaking plate that has been previously inked up in the intaglio manner. This is called viscosity printing because the inks are of a different viscosity, meaning stickiness or oiliness. Where the oily ink is on the plate it resists the sticky layer of ink so it makes for an interesting effect on the final finished print. I am eager to get rolling and printing all the collagraph plates I have been working on over the past few weeks.

Collagraph Printmaking

I have been working on a series of plates for a music based collagraph print. A few weeks back I posted a photo of the collagraph plates in the progress of being constructed. In that photo the plates were whitish in color because they were unfinished and they hadn't been coated with shellac. I am now one stage further ahead. In the photo below you will see all four plates, one of which has been inked and run through as a test print. The others have a yellowish color which comes from the coating of shellac that is put on to seal the plate and help protect it. I am not happy with the test print at all but I have added a photo of it so that you can see the process.

You will notice that the letters are back the front. That is because in printmaking, things print in reverse. Also what is high on the plate will print deep on the paper and the other way around. You will see this in the photo of the test collagraph print below.

If you want to see more of my collagraph prints go to my web site http://www.susanneclark.com/ and check out the collagraph printmaking gallery page.

Kimono Collagraph Print is the July Draw


I have been having trouble with the subscription info on this site but I now have it working properly. Some of you who previously subscribed will have recieved another email asking you to verify your subscription. Please do this if you still wish to be on the mailing list.


This month one of my Kimono collagraph prints will go to the person whose name I draw from the email subscriber list. If you are not on the list and wish to be, sign up now with the subscriber button on this page.


I have been working on a new collagraph print with a musical theme. Because many of my paintings recently have had a musical theme I thought that it would be interesting to take that over into my printmaking. I am making four plates 8 inches by 12inches, that will, when all printed together, make a wide narrow print that is 32 by 12. In the picture you can see that I am at the beginning stages and still trying to decide what textures and shapes to add to the plate. Once I have finished adding stuff I will coat the plates with a shellac finish, ink them up and then print by running through my press. I have the option to make prints using the whole four plates or as few as I like. There is always the possibility that I may not like the way any of them print and so then I would have to discard them but hopefully that won't be the case.









The dark areas on the plate are made by putting glue where I want it and then sprinkling carorundum grit over the glue. The grit is a black sand like substance and when inked up for printing, it prints very dark. Where I paint with acrylic paint the ink will wipe off more and print lighter. Every type of paper and substance collaged onto the plate prints in a different manner so it's exciting to try new materials.

In my next post I will show you how this is progressing and also post a photograph of "Tempo in Blue" which now has it's bow in place.

Cello Painting "Tempo in Blue"

I couple of postings back I showed photos of the process of painting Tempo In Blue. As I said in the post I wasn't sure if the painting was finished or not, but that I needed to spend time looking at it to decide. It's so funny because I kept looking at it and thinking something was wrong and that it wasn't quite finished but I didn't know why. All of a sudden I realised I had hands playing the cello but no bow! I had forgotten to put it in. I am now in the process of adding the bow and I'll post the finished painting in a day or so, along with a photo of the Kimono collagraph print that's this months draw for subscribers to my blog updates.

Free, Free, Free!

Wouldn't you like something for free? Sign up now to my mailing list and be in for a draw each month to receive a free gift. This month it's for a copy of the CD "Strauss and Rachmaninoff - Sonatas for Cello and Piano" with Ruth Sommers, cellist, and David Oei, pianist, and featuring one of my paintings as the CD's artwork. Ruth is the director of Festival Chamber Music in NY. It's a great way to keep up with my new work and get an insight into the daily work in the studio.

You will be in for the draw each month you are on the mailing list. Gifts over the coming months will be CD's, collagraph prints or a reproduction of one of my musical paintings. As they say, you have to be in to win. My daughter knows all about this principle. She enters lots of things and has won some great prizes over the years. One was dinner and a baseball match at the Sky Dome in Toronto for 12 people plus team merchandise. I can't match that however!

Subscribe in the box to the right of this. You can have your name removed at any time by emailing me and I certainly won't give your email address to anyone else.

I will be posting a picture of the finished Golden Sax painting in a day or so. You can see pictures of the first few days work in a previous post.

The Kimono Prints

A few years back I began a series of collagraph prints based on the Kimono. It's such a wonderful shape and great to work within. I felt like a dress designer putting these together and could go on and on thinking up new designs. Now that I have my own press I am able to start making them again and yesterday I was in the studio pulling one for a friend when I thought about posting a few here.

The Kimonos are signed with my name and the Japanese characters for my name. The colors are vibrant and the image is impressed into the paper by the press embossing it which unfortunately doesn't show up in photographs. I have added a detail picture so that you can see a close up.

There are a couple of beautiful Kimonos framed up at the

Heaven Blue Rose Gallery

in Roswell north of Atlanta however if you are interested in this one you can contact me or the gallery. I will post more in coming days. You can also check out my web site http://www.susanneclark.com/ and look on the gallery page for collagraph prints.

Collagraph Landscape called "Mystery Mountain"

Yesterday I spent in the studio here in Atlanta making a new plate for a collagraph. It was really nice to have the door to my studio/garage open and the sun shining in.while I worked.

In case you don't know anything about printmaking, a plate is what you print the image from, and for a collagraph, it is usually a thin piece of board, metal or cardboard that you have collaged or stuck various pieces of paper or other stuff on. You can see some examples at my web site.

I spent a long time working on it and was quite pleased at the end of the day, however, when I sat down and reviewed what I had done later that evening, it didn't look good at all! It's so frustrating. I won't give up on it though as there are some really nice parts. I was trying to have some large clear areas instead of all over pattern, but in the end there was just too much space where nothing was happening. I will have to add some more complexity in those areas to make it work better.

Above is the photo of "Mystery Mountain" that I did a few weeks back before I went to Toronto. I am quite happy with it but I am not sure about the dark area at the bottom and I am wondering about cropping that part off when I frame it. If you have an opinion please let me know. There are some wonderful color combinations in it when you see it up close. Click on the image to have a look. Oh the joy of printmaking, I love it!