Making Autumn Trees: Printmaking

I love making autumn trees.  This time I changed the way the trunks are made using a printmaking technique.




P.S. I have a great giveaway at the end of this post so please read on.

I also used this idea for an art journal page and an inchie.














MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- sticky backed craft foam
- paper towel roll
- paper
- disk tempera or watercolour paint for background
- black liquid tempera or acrylic paint
- paint in fall colours (acrylic or liquid tempera)
- small brush
- cotton swabs (Q-tips)

PROCEDURE:

I took some craft foam and cut strips in irregular lines, curves, some jagged.


Remove paper backing and stick to paper roll.  Start from the centre out leaving the ends free.  This way you can roll it easier like a rolling pin.

Now there are few ways to load paint onto your roll.  You can spread some out on wax paper and then roll in to it.

You can also paint it directly on to the foam.  This will give you a very precise print but you have to work fast so the paint doesn't dry before you paint all the strips.

Place on your paper and roll out your tree trunks.  This is my first go.  Too many trunks I thought so I removed a few.

To make my background I painted in a sky and a strip of ground on my paper.

Roll on your trunks.  If you get a few smudges, no worries, it's a print that happens and we will use some of these smudges when we make branches.

With a small brush add a few branches.

Time to make the leaves.  Take a few cotton swabs.  I like to cut mine in half.  This gives me 2 sizes of circles, one on each end.

Dip ends into Fall coloured paint and stamp on your leaves.  Clusters work best and don't forget a few on the ground.

I made an inchie as well.  Instead of a paper roll I used a paint dauber but a thick pencil, marker, or piece of dowel would work.

I get a lot of inquiries for ideas to use in art journals.


Here is a journal page using this technique.  You could make a page for each of the 4 seasons using the same technique just changing up the leaves or lack of them.



I hope you give this a try.

I bought this book in the spring.  It was on pre-order and when it didn't arrive on time (did they forget me) I ordered it again.



I was going to return the extra but it's a great book so why not a giveaway.

So why do I like this book:

- smaller size, only 9"x7" so you can have it beside you as you work
- coil binding, pages will stay open to where you want
- heavy weight pages that have a shiny finish, made to hold up to any messes or stray paint

- lots of great techniques with pictures of different projects to inspire you
- artist tips on most pages with helpful advice.

If you are interested in winning my extra copy:
- comment on this post
- send me an email at thatartistwoman@shaw.ca
- or like/comment on my Facebook page


I'll do the draw Thursday.  Good luck everyone and I hope you end up with some paint on your hands today!
Gail