Digital Mixed Media Art Journal

On October 18th I will be teaching a workshop on using digital images in art journals. This workshop will be the second of 3 workshops at the artists' nook in Ft. Collins, Colorado. A fabric journal was started while I was thinking about this workshop. My inspiration is creating a journal using all sorts of digital images, printed on many surfaces and not using ideas that I have used before. Well at first this was going to be one journal, but with all the pages and thickness, I have split it up into 5 journals. I am almost done with the pages - only 2 more of the total 60 pages complete. Once the covers are finished I will finish the photographs of the journal pages.

The techniques are many and since the final compositions for the pages were all firsts to me, it was quite a challenge. It will be awesome to share all the ideas to use digital prints on many experimental surfaces during the workshop at the artists' nook.

Upcoming Workshops at the artists' nook

One of the greatest aspects of digital printing is what can be achieved with a little experimenting with your work and some creativity.

On October 17th I will be teaching a series of workshops in Ft. Collins Colorado. The first of the workshops is “Beginning Digital Printing on Fabric and Specialty Papers” and will enlighten the participants on what can be accomplished with digital prints. This class is not only informative, but can also open all sorts of doors in expanding to another media.

In this workshop we will learn about preparing surfaces, getting a quality print and learning how to create digital prints on surfaces that you may not have thought about. We will also use prints that have been previously printed to create small mixed media compositions or journal pages.

I will have a small 4” x 6” format printer by Epson with me and will demonstrate the use of carrier sheets for difficult surfaces. We will be able to use that printer to print small pieces.

These pages posted here are from one of my notebooks. This one has examples of all sorts of surfaces that I have printed. Here is a list of some of the surface examples in this notebook-

Transfers from ink jet transparency papers on dyed burlap, watercolor paper, metallic crinkle paper, lace paper, canvas and others
Transfers from gel media and Golden digital grounds
Transfers from gel media, dyed cheesecloth and inkAID semi-gloss precoat
Transfers from gel media, Golden mica flakes and Golden digital ground
Transfers from gel media and inkAID white matte precoat
Lutradur
Lutradur distressed by heat
Tyvec
Tyvec distressed by heat
Lace paper
Airiel paper with pumice gel coated with inkAID
Pima tex cotton with Golden digital ground
Pima tex cotton with inkAID semi-gloss precoat
Dyed canvas
Painted watercolor paper
Aluminum
Etc…………

All of these have been printed after the surfaces have been properly prepared. Some of the surfaces are easily printed, but some take a little more preparation and assistance to run through a printer.

To get a complete explanation of all this, join me for the workshop. It will be worth it.

Digital Fabric Journal: the beginnings

Lots of work to do in my studio this week. One focus is a new journal using fabric as the base. Next month I will be teaching several workshops in Ft Collins at the Artists’ Nook and some ideas have been rolling around in my head on ways to combine digital media with fabric. Inspired by working new surfaces, I started to put together a journal that has a fabric base.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week I am teaching a workshop on digital printing on uncommon surfaces. Should be an interesting and creative week!

I am posting pictures of the beginnings of my fabric base journal. I love working and creating on new surfaces. Here is a description of how it all started:

1- I cut 15” x 11” pieces of muslin, silk and pima tex cotton.
2- I painted the pieces with acrylic paint
3- Once that was dry, I coated the pieces with Golden clear digital ground ( by the way the digital grounds from Golden are on sale through the end of September at Jerry’s Artarama)
4- I designed images to over - prints my fabrics in Photoshop.
5- I used carrier sheets to run the fabrics through my printer.
6- I cut the fabric in half the long way leaving me with pieces 15” x 5.5”
7- Using gel media around the edges, I put 2 printed pieces back to back with a piece of colored silk in between. One of the pieced pages has dyed burlap in between.

Using forms of digital media and surfaces I have finished a couple of the pages.

The first set of pages posted in pictures-

digital print on canvas, some of which has been cut and woven into aluminum mesh has been attached with gel media.

Second set of pages –

on the left is a printed digital transfer created with gel media, attached to the muslin surface with gel media. The transfer is distressed by tearing and pleating the transfer - rolled digital prints wrapped with wire and hemp cord have been attached to the surface. The right side has a digital transfer adhered to dyed burlap, cut and assembled on the surface.

Third set of pages -

on the left is an assemblage of lutradur printed and heat distressed, torn, layered with beads to float the layers before attaching to the surface. On the right digital printed transfer made from gel media and Golden digital ground clear attached to the muslin surface with gel media

Details views follow at the end of the pictures.