Paper Lithography/Gum Arabic Transfers

Gum Arabic transfer which is also know as paper lithography or xerox lithography is a quick way to make prints. Your paper photocopy actually becomes your plate when the gum arabic interacts with the toner and raises it slightly off the paper. You can get two or three transfers from one photocopy if you are careful in your plate preparations. If you want several copies of the same print it is a good idea to have more than one photocopy ready.

The following instructions are a combination of what I learned from my recent workshop and research on the topic. There is always more than one way to accomplish what you want. Experimentation is key in finding your own way.

Materials
black and white photocopy of an image (heat set type)
oil based printing ink
gum arabic in a small plastic container
several disposable sponges for water and gum arabic
paper towel to blot up excess water
soft brayer to roll on ink
light weight paper to print on
plexiglas plate that is at least 3-4 inches bigger than the image
printing press, barren or wooden spoon
newsprint to absorb ink when printing


Step 1
Prepare your ink. Squirt out a small amount and work it with the brayer until it is well blended. The ink should roll smoothly and not be too tacky. You may need to add Miracle Gel or Easy Wipe to get ink to the right consistency. Mix only enough ink for one print at a time because it gets contaminated with paper fibres and gum arabic.

Step 2
Coat an area of the plexiglas plate with gum arabic and place the photocopy on top of this area with image facing up. If you have difficulty with wrinkling, lift up the photocopy and re-apply a small amount of gum arabic to plexiglas and lay the paper down in sections wiping it on the top with a sponge dipped in gum arabic to smooth out wrinkles . When the paper is fully adhered give it one final light coat of gum arabic.

Step 3
Gently roll a layer of ink over the photocopy that is attached to the plexiglas. It is not necessary to use a large amount of ink. Roll it gently being sure to cover all the darkest areas. Each time you reload the brayer, roll it on newsprint to remove any gum arabic that might be picked up from the photocopy.

I like to give the plate one consistent coat of ink and then remove the ink with a sponge and water. Some artists prefer to apply several very light coats of ink using water and a sponge to remove the ink between each coat. You will have to see what works best for you. Be aware that too many applications of ink followed by water to remove it will eventually break down the photocopy paper which is serving as your plate.

It is a good idea to photocopy on good quality paper, 20 or 24 pound weight. I am planning to try a transfer where I coat the back of the photocopy with gel medium and let it dry. I think this will help strengthen the paper. Working quickly is also important. Don't scrub the paper too vigorously when wiping off the ink because the paper can easily disintegrate. When the ink is removed from the light areas, blot extra water off the inked photocopy plate with paper towel or a dry sponge.

Step 4
Place a sheet of paper over the photocopy and either use a wooden spoon or baren to burnish it to transfer the image to the paper or use a printing press. I had the best results when using the press.

Step 5
If you want to start a new print, clean the roller and ink area and any additional ink that might have transferred to your work area or plexiglas plate. Start a new batch of ink. Baby oil or vegetable oil works well to clean up equipment and work areas.

Additional Suggestions:
High contrast images work best. Stay away for images that have a lot of mid tones.


This did not work at all because I didn't have enough ink on the plate and there were too many mid tones in the phot0.

While this was a fairly successful attempt, you can see that the mid section is lacking in contrast.

This print was not successful because there were too many dark tones and the rocks almost disappear. Of course, I can tear sections of it to use in mixed media work.

I considered this to be a successful print. It had good contrast and interesting lines. I later used it in an encaustic work. Stay tuned to see the final result.

This is my best attempt.

In workshop mode

I was one of a small group of artists from St. John's and surrounding area who climbed the long flight of stairs to St. Michael's Printshop this morning to find our welcoming instructor, Anita Singh, waiting for us. This was Day 2 of a 4 day workshop titled From Printmaking to Encaustic offered in conjunction with R & F Paints. Day 1 passed quickly as we investigated the trace monotype process. With a number of images under my belt from yesterday's work, I was eager to add to my stash of materials that would be used on Day 3 and 4 in encaustic explorations.

Jim Maunder and Bonnie Leyton share advice.
The plexiglass work tables no longer look quite so pristine.

Angela Antle and Carol Bajen-Gahm hard at it.
Angela learned to use a light touch while Carol already had acquired one.

Two happy artists.

And another one... Things must be going well.
Evelyn Peyton Murphy ties one one in red while the rest of us use boring Burnt Umber.


And the one who escaped my camera.... Tara Bryan.

It was a great day and the learning was exponential to the power of eight. Anita is still smiling but Louise Sutton looks a little fatigued.

Next post - Everything you ever wanted to know about Gum Arabic Transfers.

Thoughts on creating titles for work

Should creating titles for your art be as demanding as creating your art? I would have to answer yes to that question after my marathon name game last week. Now that the work is finally shipped off to the gallery and I have time to reflect on the process, the responses from my faithful readers and the synthesis of several articles I read on the topic, I offer up the following nuggets that might help others.

Why create titles for your work?

A title

• makes your record keeping easier
  
• makes correspondence with a gallery and record keeping in the gallery easier
• provides an "in" as to what the artist's thoughts were when the work was created
• provides a specific reference when your work is being discussed or written about
• can add more weight to a work
  

Considerations

Simple or complex ?
Most of the work I create falls in either the still life or close- up landscape categories where simple and descriptive titles work well without stating the obvious. I am always cautious about using a pretentious title - lines from poetry , sections of songs, Latin or obscure references from classics, titles in other languages or ones using heavy duty vocabulary. These prompts may be important for some artists who feel such titles add weight to their work or that they make the work appear more insightful or exotic. To me, choosing such titles always seems like you are trying too hard. Often the titles are so obscure they make the work inaccessible.

Because I am interested in the ordinary my title mantra is "Simple things need simple names". I've used titles that range from broad to specific.

Examples include:

Summer Details
Still Life - Texture Study
Found Objects- Keels, NL
From Vera's Garden

For more metaphorical pieces I come up with titles that reference the layers of meaning I am exploring.

Transition
Surface Tension
Mechanical Reasoning
Time Pieces
Fallen
Coded
Messenger
Alchemy
Claimed
Hidden

Specific or general ?
When you are creating titles for a landscape sometimes the location is important and sometimes it isn't. You have to decide. I know artists who paint specific places in a city/town that have nostalgic connections for the general public. This is a great way to focus their buying public. In this situation the place name should be part of the title. I can't say that I have ever created work that relies on specific recognition of a place. I have, however, used titles to indicate that I am referencing a specific place to let the viewer know that I have some connection to the place personally. A good example of this is from my Remnants series where I connect a familiar object to the area where I grew up. E.g., Mounted, Butter Point, NL. In this situation the title tells more about the artist than about the specific place.

Use the subject of the painting as a guide for how specific you are in the title selection. Try to be descriptive without stating the obvious. You can indicate seasons, moods or personalities. If the obvious is important, state it.



Keep in mind...

That a title should be appropriate to the scale and spirit of the work created. My work is intimate in scale and focuses on ordinary everyday things and the passage of time. I am always conscious to reflect this in the titles I choose. I personally like one word titles and use them quite a bit. I find they provide subtle direction without being too pointed. I want the art to do the talking.

Titles are important because they direct what the viewer focuses on in a work.

Stuck for a title? Try these ideas.

Ask a friend

I have several friends I can call on for title advice. I place the piece on the easel and give a summary of my thoughts about the work and list any titles I've come up with. Then we brainstorm additional titles which are recorded. I put the list away for a day or two and then decide which of the suggestions work best with the intent of the work. Now that I have a blog I have a wider audience of friends to provide help when I'm stuck.

Collect words

I have a notebook in my studio and another by the computer to record words I come across while reading that reference the themes in my work; it might be a single word or a phrase. I have sorted them by topic or theme in the past, but this is time consuming and not worth the effort. I now keep running lists with no effort to order them.

Check a thesaurus

Make a list of key words that reference your general subject matter /themes. ( some of mine are: time, passage, beauty, memory, remnants, decay) and record alternate words for each one. Keep adding to your key works as your work changes.

Work from a title

This is a new one for me. I was collecting words as I read a poetry book the other day and found a word that automatically gave me several ideas for a work. This had never happened before so now I guess I'll be reading lists of words when I am stuck.

Continuing the theme

The tedious job of titles has been completed and my twelve pieces have been shipped off to Cube Gallery in Ottawa. My plans are made to attend the opening on September 6. This is the first time I've shipped work outside the province. I checked several options but in the end went with good old Canada Post which was not too expensive. I'm waiting to hear that it got there in good form. I can't imagine there will be any problems because it was packed up with great obsession!

Thanks to Babs and her comment to the previous post, I named the work in question Entangled . It certainly fitted my intent for the piece. Tangled(pun intended) up in my thoughts were: ideas of the long line of decendants in the Rosse family tree; the whole history of the English in Ireland; the fact that the tree fell on a commerative flowerbed; the complex nature of tree growth; the sadness of seeing a stately and well loved tree fall; and, my relationship to the tree when it was standing and how this changed when it fell.

I'm now working furiously at part 2 of Reading a Garden for a solo exhibition in 2010. I think I will continue to explore this theme for quite some time. Rather than running out of ideas I keep getting more.

Searching for title

I'm back in the city for several days to get my work ready to ship to Ottawa. I spent yesterday brainstorming titles and I actually came up with some great ones. There are still several that are nagging at me. The image below was created in response to an event that occurred while staying at Birr Castle Demesne. Right now Tangled, Uprooted, Connections, & Family Tree are the top contenders. Any input will be appreciated.

What's new?

The last week has been very productive for me. I now have 13 works completed for my Reading a Garden Series that is off to Ottawa next week. Yesterday I took them all to my photographer friend's studio to have them photographed - just in case some of them sell. How's that for tentative positive thinking?

It was very interesting seeing them all lined up as a physical manifestation of my two weeks movement and being in Birr Castle Demense last summer. In the combined work I saw emotions, sensory responses, social and historical commentary, symbolism, botanical information, and ecological and philosophical issues represented. I did not have a master plan as I began this work; one work lead to another and all these responses started to fall out. I am feeling good that I have captured the depth of this garden. It is frustrating for me not to be in a position to upload some of the pictures of the new work . I promise a thorough posting of all of them when I get back to my home computer at the end of August.

Today I am sitting to write commentary about each of the pieces for my reflection journal . I usually take time out from creating to reflect on what I have learned from creating the work, what I might have done new in terms of process, what questions I might have, new ideas from old work and how I am feeling about where I am in my practice.

After the reflection, I need to title each of them. I've decided on one word titles that will give the viewer a basic idea of where I was going with the piece or why I bothered to focus on it. I find titling difficult. I did consider just numbering them as Birr Castle Demense #1 , #2 etc. and discussed it with several artists and non-artists, and there was a general consensus that such an approach is annoying/frustrating . I would love to hear some commentary on your feelings and methods for creating titles (or not) for your work.