1. For this technique you blend ceramic colour, underglaze or oxides, with water and paint it on a glass surface. 2. Then you apply a piec of potters tissue or newspaper on the glass. 3. Then you draw your motive on the paper. 4. The motive can be transfered to laether hard clay from the paper by use of finger or credit card. 5. The ceramic colour can be reused by putting a little water on the brush and painting the glass with the colour again and again.
This is an example of an industrially produced plate where the tissue has been torn.
Monoprint with ceramic tissue
on glazed ceramics or glass. As before you paint your motive on ceramic tissue or newspaper. But to be able to transfer the motive to the glazed surface, it is necessary to make the surface sticky. For this you can use spraymount, hairspray, coca cola or other sticky things. It is necessary to experiment with the kiln to reach the right temperature. You want the colour to melt into the glaze or glass and avoid it evaporating. It is good to start at around 50 degree lower than the glaze firing top temperature and then slowly work your way up.
My monoprint experiments
Monoprint with photocopier.
You can print directly on wet clay with a photocopy.The photocpier or printer must have ironoxide in the ink and you must be able to open the mashine before the paper runs through the hot sealing roles. You can see if the ink contains iron oxide by burning a piece of paper with the ink on it. If the ink turns dark brown like corroded iron the technique will work.The copied motive can be transfered directly to the wet clay. The colour is dark brown if fired without glaze until 1250*.Later it is shown how to use the technique on glazed ceramics or glass.
Monoprint with commercials.
Use a cheap glossy magazine with adds or paper from the photocopier or printer. The colour mix is oxide, stains or underglaze and water. The consistancy has to be found by experimenting. Paint across the paper with a wide brush. Where there is laquer on the paper, the colour crawls away, leaving a sort of grafic image. The technique is a little hard to master.
Day 2:
Screen printing
Tuesday Paul taught us some nice
trix in photoshop. Then we were given some wooden frames and teh mesh to make our own printing frame.We were shown how to do it. We were also talking about which paper to print on. Paul talked about the professional transparent with totally black ink and semitransparent paper( which we used), tracing paper if you want to draw your own motif and finally normal paper smeared in food oil to make it semitransparent.
Monoprint with engobe/ slip
The engobe was made of porcelain be cause we used porcelain as our clay. It was mixed with a large amount of underglaze colour. You can paint on newspaper and transfer to leatherhard clay. The technique works really well and it allows you to transfer motifs to rounded objects be cause the newspaper isnt stiff.
Other techniques The engobe can be painted to a plaster surface. When the image is finished, it is a good idea to paint a layer of slip on both the plaster and the slap of clay, before you sqeeze them together. To make a relief effect you can scratch into the plaster surface. You can either sqeeze the clay straight into it, or first paint the relief with colour slip and then scrabe the excess colour slip off.
My experiments with newspaper
My experiments with plaster
Day 3:
Ink for stamp printing
For leather hard surfaces you can use glycerin mixed with underglaze colour or stains. For glazed surfaces or glass it is better to use stand oil and linseed oil mixed together. You mix the stand oil and powder first. Make sure you put in as much powder as possible until the mix is almost not smooth anymore. Then you apply just a little linseed oil to make the mix smooth but still thick. The rest of the day we were shown a lot of pictures of other ceramicists working with decoration.
Examples of prints with glycerin on leather hard and bisque
fired surfaces.
Linolium print with stand - and
linseed oil The colour mix for stamps can also be used for other types of printing like fx linolium prints. On leather hard it is possible to print directly. On Glazed surface it is better to transfer to paper first.
Wooden blocks You can also use wooden blocks. If you want to print on a glazed surface you have to transfer the print to paper and then the ceramic surface.
My experiments I used a wooden block, cutting into an eraser and leaves.
Day 4:
Screenprinting. Today we fixed the motif on the frame with light. Paul showed us a primitive and easy way to do it. The pictures show which materials we used. The photoemulsion he uses is not particularly sensitive to light but there are different options. You have to see what works for you.
Screenprinting.
You pour a couple of spoons of
emulsion in the trough and run the trough up the frame mesh one time. Turn the frame and repeat.In all you should run the trough up three times. See photo. When the frame is dry you expose it to the light. Then you run to the shower to wash away the emulsion that is still soft. First you soften it with the water and keep turning the frame untill the whole motif is visible.
The lighting table
The lighting table is made from
two tables, a box of carton and a plate of glass. Paul Scott uses a UV lamp but it is also possible to use an 500W lamp. The lampholder is a normal working lamp.The frames are exposed to light for four minutes.First we put the motif on the semitransparent paper. Then we lay down the frame, front down. On top of it we put a dark piece of paper and a piece of heavy glass and some heavy books.
Decals/transfer.
The decals were printed using the
frame. The frame was taped to the table. You could also use hinges if you have a permanent working area.The decal was loosely glued to the table, but it can also be done with a bit of masking tape.You can use masking tape on the frame to stop the colour from running out.You can use different types of colour mixes but the best ons are the smelly ones.
Decals/transfer. If you use colour mixed with oil you have to clean it with terpentine. When the print is dry you cover it with cover coat. Cover coat is the laquer that makes it possible to transfer the print to the plate. It is toxic and smelly so use a mask and air cleaner. The cover coat is applied with a telephone card or a sqeegee.
Decals/transfer. To transfer the print to the ceramic surface you have to put the decal into some luke warm water until the laquer and print becomes loose. You take the whole piece of paper and transfer it to the surface paper side down. Then you remove the paper from underneath the print.
The frame The frame can be used for all the techniques we have learnt.Just use the colour mix that fits with the technique. You can print on paper and transfer to ceramic surface. Just experiment.
My experiments Print transfered from frame to paper and then to bisque fired surface. Underglaze colour mixed with acrylic media.
Day 5:
More about Decals.
This is another technique for making decals. You can use a decel paper called Uwet which is already coated with cover coat. The colour is underglaze powder mixed with acrylic medium and laquer. Advantages are, it is not smelly and you dont have to apply cover coat. But the acrylic colour dries ouy faster than the oilbased, so you have to watch out for the frame. You cannot make a photocopy with the Uwet paper, but you can with normal decal paper. See pictures.
Photocopy on decal paper
If you have access to a photocopier with iron oxide ink, you can also print on decal paper. You can apply cover coat and use it as a normal decal or you can apply spraymount to the glazed surface and transfer the picture directly. The paper has to be wet. After a while you can remove the paper. This technique works really well on a glazed surface and not so well on leather hard.
Example on leather hard clay
Litography.
You can make lithography with any
kind of photocopy. This is how to do it: 1. Use three bowls of water. In one you pour a few drops of gummi arabicum.The other one is for washing your sponge with dirty water. The third one is for washing with cleaner water. 2. You put the photocopy on a plate of glass(Paul Scott didnt) and make it wet wiyh the water and gummiarabicum. 3. Then you apply the ink made of standoil. 4. The motif is transfered to the ceramic surface. 5. done
Litography example with ordinary but heavy weight paper
Litography example with offset
paper The advantage of his kind of paper is that it is re-usable.
