Article Drawn to Stitch

7/30/2019 Article Drawn to Stitch

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Gwen Hedley

Line, drawing, and mar-maing in tetile


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MONOPRINTING

Monoprinting is an easy way of transferring marks and designs to both

fabrics and papers. A single print is produced from a smooth plate of

glass, acetate, or similar material that has been colored or inked, so

multiple identical prints are not possible. Depending upon the thick-

ness of the ink and the methods of applying it to the printing plate, a

wide range of interesting lines and textural marks are achievable.


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FAR LEFT:

Mars were made on the glass into tan

printing in, sing a sti and a otton

d, and the print was made. When it

was dry, a seond print was made on

top, sing le in and mars made with

a otton d and fingers.

LEFT:

The top print was made sing fingers

to reate swirling lines in pale green in.

An oerprint was made with dar green

in. The ottom print was made sing

the same proess, t this t ime, straight

lines were drawn with a sti.

DRAWN TO STITcH 3

TAkING A bASIc PRINTTools and maTerials

Printing plate: yo an se a smooth piee of glass

or a sheet of aetate or Perspe

Drawing and mar-maing tools

Printing in or paint

Hard roller or rsh, as preferred

Papers for printing

Newspaper pon whih to rest yor paints,

rsh, and roller

meThod

1 Applyasmallamountofcolortoyourprintingplateandspreaditevenlyand

thinlyoveritssurfacewithyourhardroller.Ifyouareusingabrush,make

surethatthepaintisdistr ibutedthinlyandevenly.Youmayliketoleavesome

ofthebrushmarks,asthesewilltransfertothepapertogiveinteresting

effects.

2 Usingyourchosendrawingtool,and,pressingfirmly,drawquicklyandspon-

taneouslyintothecolor.Intheplaceswhereyoudraw,youwilleffectively

removethepaintfromtheglass.Trymakingvariousmovements,buildingup

arhythmicseriesofmarks.

3 Layyourpaperontopofthedrawingandpressdowngently,withthewhole

ofyourhand,incircularrubbingmovements.Alternatively,youmayrollover

itwithasecondcleanroller.

4Gentlypeeloffthepaperandleavetheprinttodry.

suggesTions

Whenyourprintisdry,takeanotherprintontopofit,usinga

differentcolor.

Tryworkingwithtwoorthreedifferentcolorsontheglassplate,toget

interestingcolorblendsonyourprints.

Printfromvariousweightsofpapers,fabrics,andalteredgroundstosee

differenteffects.

Printontoready-coloredorpatternedpapers.


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4 DRAWN TO STITcH

This is a simple method of printing in which lines of varying qualities

can be printed using the ends of pieces of thick card as printing tools.It is quick and easy to gather a selection of pieces of card in different

weights and lengths, and no specialist materials are required.

suggesTion

Pieces of card can be substituted or supplemented by other materials

that could be used to print line, such as old credit cards or supermarket

loyalty cards. Alternatively, other materials such as string or strips of

cork could be stuck onto card with double-sided sticky tape in order

to make a linear print block. The print process is the same.

cARD AND bLOck PRINTING


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FAR LEFT:

In this sample, the thi lines were

printed with a lo made from t-

foam strips, and the finer lines with ard

endsall onto ready-olored papers.

TOP:

In this image, the thi lines were made

sing a foam lo, and the thin lines

were reated with a print lo made

from short lengths of fine string gled to

a piee of thi ard.

AbOvE:

A repeat print made sing a lo made

from oarse string gled in a red line

on a piee of thi ard.

maTerials

A piee of thi ard or a small plasti ard

coloring materials sh as fari paint,

aryli olor, printing ins

Printing pad (see elow for instrtions

on how to mae one)

Fari and/or papers to e printed

Thi ed of newspaper sheets

Paintrsh and water jar

For effective and efficient application of paint to the card, it is a good

idea to use a print pad, which you can make very simply. When you use a

printing pad, it is easy to replace the paint as it is used, and attractive color

blends can be achieved by adding other colors randomly onto

the pad.

To make a prinTing pad

Takeasmallplastic,polystyrene,glass,orceramictrayandlineitwitha

pieceoffeltthathasbeenthoroughlywetted,thensqueezedtoremove

theexcesswater.

Workasmallamountofpaint,ink,orotherliquidcolorintothefeltwith

abrush,untilthecolorisabsorbedthoroughly.Thefeltshouldnotbe

submergedinliquid,justwellsaturated.

The prinTing bed

Always place the paper or fabric to be printed on a bed of newspapers,

rather than straight onto a hard surface. The bed has some give in it, and

so the print block can be slightly rocked without moving it out of posi-

tion, which will gave a more even print. The sheets of paper can easily

be folded and disposed of as necessary.

prinTing The line

1Layyourpaperorfabricontotheprintingbed.

2Holdingthecardendvertically,pressitfirmlydownontotheprintpad

tocollectcolor.

3Presstheedgeofthecardontothebackground,givingitaslightrocking

movementbeforeyouliftitup.Repeat,lengtheningandbuildingthe

linesasyouproceed.

suggesTions

Varythedensityoftheprint:trytakingasecondprintwithout

re-inkingthecard,orchangingtheamountofpressureyouapply.

Usecardsofvaryingweightsandlengths,pluslinearblocksto

achievevariety.

Forinterestingtwo-orthree-tonelines,blendtwoorthree

colorsontotheprintpad.

DRAWN TO STITcH 5


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DRAWN TO STITcH 7

LIFTING cOLORThis drawing process works on a similar principle to that used when you

are fine-line drawing from an inked plate, in that you are lifting color

from a base platein this case a colored paperby drawing firmly upon

a piece of paper placed on top of it, and then peeling it off. The pastel

that acts as a resist can often be transferred with the wax color. This can

soften the vibrancy of the top drawing, giving a slightly muted and chalky

surface to lines and areas of color.

maTerials

A strong ase paper with a smooth srfae, sh as artridge paper

or rown enelopes. Softer papers are not as effetie when

sed as the ase paper.

Pale-olored or white pastels (not oil pastels) or hals

colored wa rayons

A allpoint pen or other drawing tool

Top papersthese shold also e fairly strong, t not too thi.

process

1 Coverthebasepaperthoroughlywiththechalksorpastelsyoumightlike

tousejustasinglecolor,oramixofseveralpalecolors.Makesurethatyou

havecoveredthepaperthoroughly.Blowawayanydustleftbythechalksor

pastels.

2 Coverthischalkedbasepaperwithaheavylayerofwaxcrayon.Again,you

mayliketomixorlayerthecolors,butmakesurethatthewholepaperis

wellcovered.

3 Laytheothersheetofpaperontopofthewaxedoneanddrawyourlines

andmarkswithyourballpointpen,pressingveryfirmly.Varytheweightsof

yourlinesandmarksandusedensecolorinsomeareas,sothatyougeta

goodsampleofwhatispossible.

4 Liftoffthepaper.Youwillfindthatthelinesyouhavedrawnhavelifted

thecolorfromthebasepaper.Whereyouhavecoloredinareaswithyour

ballpointpen,youwillfindblocksofcoloronthetoppaper,andthecorre-

spondingnegativewhiteshapesonthebasepaper.Likewise,thefinecolored

linesonthetoppaperwillbematchedbyfinewhitelinesonthebasepaper.

Younowhaveapairofpositiveandnegativedrawings.

suggesTions

Worksomesamplesheetstoexplorepossibilities.Labelthemandstore

inyourworkbookasreference.

Youmightliketoworkfurtherintothedrawingwithcoloredpencils,fine-

liners,orotherdrawingimplements.

Furtherlinesandmarkscanbedrawnintothebaselayer,oryoucanscratch

offareaswithacraftknifeorstylusbecarefulnottopiercethepaper.

LEFT AND AbOvE:

To reate this design, artridge paper

was oered with a ream-olored pas-

tel. This was then oered with rightly

olored pathes of wa rayon. A top

layer of artridge paper was plaed on

top and heaily drawn onto, with areas

of oth simple line and dense oerage.


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INTRODucTION

chapTer 1

Woring withthis oo

chapTer 2

bagronds,materials, and tools

chapTer 3

Line-drawing andmar-maing proesses

chapTer 4

Tetile Proess

chapTer 5Interpreting line qality:drawing and stithing

chapTer 6using line

cONTENTS

PAPERbAck 8 10, 144 PAGES

ISbN 978-1-59668-233-7, $29.95

AvAILAbLE SEPTEMbER 2010

ExPLORE THE DESIGN

POSSIbILITIES OF LINE

Line is an essential component of all textile and surface art. When used

effectively, line and mark-making convey texture, tone, form, move-

ment, and mood. With Drawn to Stitch by your side, learn creative uses

of line in embroidery and textile art.

Artist and teacher Gwen Hedley shares a series of exercises designed

to explore lines potential as well as develop your creativity. Drawn to

Stitch also covers line and mark-making tools, materials, and processes,

including printing and mixed-media techniques. Gwen explores stitch,

explaining how to interpret different line qualities from crisp and sharp

to soft and diffused and from raised and overlaid to recessed and inlaid.

Full of inspiring ideas, Drawn to Stitch is illustrated with stunning

examples of stitched-texti le work from leading artists.

GW HDLisanauthor,teacher,andembroidererwhoseworkis

exhibitedwidely.SheisamemberofTheSocietyofDesigner-CraftsmenandThePracticalStudyGroup.Sheistheauthorofthebestsellingtitle

Surfaces for Stitch.ShelivesinChalfontSt.Peter,Buckinghamshire.

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Article Drawn to Stitch