Blue Heron Mixed Media Intaglio Print

Hello everyone.  I cannot believe that my vacation is already over.  Oh how time flies when you are not working.  I do hope that all of you had a fantastic New Year.  I spent my New Year playing the game Pie Face with family and friends.  It is such a fun game... even if you get whipped cream in your eyes and up your nose!  I also dyed my hair a deep plum purple and got caught up on laundry. Overall I had a decent holiday break. 

Since it already is so late, I will not write too much about the art work I am sharing with you tonight.  This print in an intaglio print etched from a zinc plate. This is a colored monoprint.  Before printing the black and white image, I had painted the heron directly on the zinc plate with blue ink. After adding the second color to the etched plate, I ran it through the printing press. This image was printed on a cold pressed paper that I had previously covered in newspaper print and permanent ink spatters.  Once the print was dry, I decided to carefully add a textile pattern to the blue areas of the image. I masked off the white areas of the image using painters tape and then stamped the textile print lightly over the surface of the paper. I used a patterned rubber stamp and dye ink to achieve the results. The final monoprint turned out beautifully.

I hope you enjoyed the art I shared with you tonight.  If you enjoyed this monoprint, please feel free to comment below or share this post via social media.  I appreciate all of the comments, shares, and follows I receive.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! ❤ Tia - Copper Blossom Paperie ❤

Snowman Card - One Way To Use An Intaglio Print

Happy Monday everyone!  I have been so busy today, but managed to finish a winter card inspired by nature. I used an intaglio print I created a few years back as the main image for this card.  Although the intaglio print is a physical print, the card was created digitally.  I love mixing physical art with digital art!  This is a great example of how you can incorporate art from journal pages or sketchbooks into other projects.  You can add your physical art to digital cards or scrapbook pages without destroying your original artwork. If you like something you have previously made, why not digitally alter it or make it into something new.  That is exactly what I did when I created this digital card.

 I absolutely love how the finished card turned out.  I started this project by first scanning the snowman print using my all in one printer. This intaglio print was etched on a copper plate using resin and multiple acid baths.  This particular image was printed on Reeves BFK paper via a manual printing press.  I originally designed this image three years ago for a print exchange hosted by the University I graduated from.  Ironically, this print was one of the last intaglio prints I ever created.  Intaglio printing requires a lot of specialized materials and tools making it extremely difficult to do at home.  If given the opportunity, I would gladly enter another intaglio print exchange. The image below is the original print used in the print exchange.

Once the image was scanned and saved to my computer, I was able to alter it using Pixlr online.  The finished image below consists of 6 digital layers including a grey blue background, a brown textured layer, a snowflake print, a snowflake digital stamp, the original scanned image, and finally a messy glitter border.

I loved the digitally altered print so much that I decided to turn it into a digital card.  I only added a couple simple embellishments to accent the finished card.  I also added a sentiment to the card, but I think I like the card better without it.

I am entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. This week's challenge is all about creating something with the letter "N".  I chose the word Nature.  Here is the link to the challenge blog:
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/

I hope you are inspired to use your art in digital projects. Not only can you use this idea to make digital cards, but you could also create scrapbook pages, facebook cover photos, or even a blog banner! The possibilities are endless. Thanks for stopping by the blog. If you enjoy my posts, please follow or subscribe. Have a great week everyone! ❤ Tia - Copper Blossom Paperie ❤

An Intaglio Print Photoshoped On Scrapbook Paper

Hello Everyone.  Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Its hard to believe that summer is almost over.  Labor day is right around the corner, and before you know it, Halloween will have come and gone.  Kids are returning to school and college this week, and it is nice that life is returning to normal again. I have nothing against summer, but I absolutely cannot wait for fall to get here.  I love sweater weather, and adore the bright autumn colors here in Wisconsin.  I also enjoy decorating the house for the autumn season and upcoming holidays.  The best part of fall is that my house will be scented with pumpkin spice (my all time favorite smell) and I can drink pumpkin shakes from a local custard shop once again.

The image below is an intaglio print I created in college. Intaglio printmaking is by far my favorite form of printmaking. I love etching copper and nickel plates with acid baths and and metal engraving tools to create lines and texture. I find that this style of printmaking is very time consuming and tends to not go as planned, but I absolutely enjoy the process of etching metal.  The printing of the metal plates is my favorite part.  The paper has to be wet when it is printed on so it is important to use a cold press archival paper like Reeves BFK. It would be impossible to actually print on scrapbook paper due to the quality and additives in the paper.  Unlike block printing or stamping, this type of printmaking makes a print when the ink settles in the groove of the metal plate.  When the plate is run through the press the ink is deposited from the groves onto the wet paper.  As you may have guessed, a print will not come out cleanly unless you meticulously clean the surface of the plate after inking it. This form of printmaking was common in the 18th and 19th century due to the longevity of the metal and it ability to stand up to the wear and tear of multiple printings.

In order to have this image on specialty paper or scrapbook paper, you must use Photoshop or a photo editing software.  I used Photoshop to achieve the results in the image above.  Instead of using the wand or eraser tool to remove the white areas of the picture, I was able to invert the white area with the digital scrapbook paper.  This technique is much faster and creates a cleaner appearance if you are simply looking to change the background appearance.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday.  Thanks for stopping by. ❤ Tia- Copper Blossom Paperie ❤