Collagraph with mixed media: Sunday Morning (& Free digital art books from the Getty Museum)

Here is one collagraph in an edition of seven, made from a mat board substrate, printed by hand with akua ink, and then treated with color using a variety of media; one with watercolor, another with charcoal, a bright and impressionistic version with oil pastel and the print above with colored pencil. One of the many things I love about printmaking is the endless variety of options to play with the art *after* the print is pulled. The art supply cupboard is your oyster! Fiddling with art supplies is on the same plane as eating a good meal, swimming, sitting by the sea or laying in a hammock with a good book. Everything feels better afterwards.

How many times have you reached into your trove of art supplies to play for an hour this month?

I’ve just posted a video to encourage that practice with collagraph printmaking. Check it out below….

I’ve posted a video (below) showing the process of hand printing and then hand coloring these collagraph prints with watercolor, colored pencil, charcoal and oil pastel on my youtube channel. If you receive these blog posts via email or rss, and you don’t see the video window below, you can watch it directly on youtube here.

Feeling inspired? This might help; did you know there is an assortment of art books available for free downloading at the Getty Museum, here in Los Angeles? It’s always great to visit either of their locations for inspiration and appreciation of the amazing art, and a visit to the book store is a tempting treat, but if you’re too far away, you can peruse their virtual library and choose a book or two to read on your mobile device or desktop computer.  Have a look at the virtual library here.

Art Quote
An art which isn’t based on feeling isn’t an art at all… feeling is the principle, the beginning and the end; craft, objective, technique – all these are in the middle.
Paul Cezanne 1839-1906