Block Print Distort Part One

I had the idea to try block printing with the distorted scrim technique. So first of all I had some fun making the block, I used Moo carving medium which is easier to use than the thin material which can be bought. My carving is pretty basic and I have no idea how people manage to get such intricate patterns, I am sure that like everything else it is probably down to practise.

I decided to leave the lines in the background of the block which I felt looked like the grasses in the field, and which I could later echo when I machined the scrim.

 I tried it out on paper first.

Then I took photos and made some ' app prints ' on the ipad.

To be continued......................................................

Distort Threee

This time I found a monoprint of the field,  which I had coloured, in one of my sketchbooks and decided to use that as the background.

 I transferred this to calico using TAP (Artists' Transfer Paper).

This was, of course, much less hassle than free machining a background, but also interesting as I wanted to try a different method/effect. I liked the quite dramatic red line down the centre and after all the green and brown decided to go for red with a touch of iridescent tinting  medium; the effect was rather more pink shiney than red and I pondered over whether or not to darken this area, in the end I have left it.
  I added the whole to white felt and needlefelted the three layers around the edge. This time I also machined around the inner edge of the picture as I liked the effect of the white felt being more dimensional. These pieces are difficult to photograph, if you click on the top picture it gives a better idea of the dimensional quality (I have just realised that if you click twice the image comes up really large).

Distort again

I decided to have another go at the idea of distorting scrim, like 'drawn thread' work with the sewing machine.I worked using this sketch as a guide:

This time I worked on a piece of calico rather than silk.

I then distorted the scrim and painted it with acrylic inks.

You work on damp kitchen roll and the colours are much less strong as the scrim dries. I wondered if the edges of the calico together with the scrim would needlefelt onto the white felt backing, so I did a sample piece and it worked fine.

It looks quite flat in a photo but in fact the needlefelting makes the piece dimensional and quite interesting.