Tag Archives: art

recent painting and sketching work and techniques by contemporary Norfolk artist Mari French

spilling the beans …

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It’s been a while since I posted, that time of year I suppose when we’re all hunkered down waiting for spring! However, I was recently taken on by an online gallery Singulart – who are based in France and whose remit is to promote contemporary artists from Europe (France, Germany and UK in particular) to new markets. They have just posted an online interview with me about my life in art, to their blog, which I thought you might find interesting to read.

The link to the full interview is here. Below is a snippet from it…

How did you find your voice as an artist?My earliest memory of art is of my first day at school, I would have been 5 years old, intently drawing marigold flowers in a work book. I can still see myself pressing the vivid green and orange crayons onto the page, forming the petals and stems…The Singulart blog also has interviews with other artists, giving glimpses into their lives and working processes, which you might also find interesting, so after you’ve read mine, why not explore!

monoprinting: a few results…

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Monoprint © Mari French 2017

Monoprint © Mari French 2017

Well, here are some of the results of my recent monoprinting on gel plate sessions (as written about in my previous post here). I’m fairly pleased with some of them, not so sure about others, but trying out a completely different process or medium is a great way of shaking you out of an artist’s block or the doldrums or that feeling of ‘what next’. I recommend it!

I soon learnt a few things too…
Printmaking paper may work better than watercolour paper (less size), so I’ve ordered some Somerset smooth white paper;
Open acrylics (Golden) definitely work better (as do Atelier Interactive) as they don’t dry quite so fast. Alternatively I found that adding gloss acrylic medium helped with consistency and slowed down drying time a bit;
Allow lots of time for cleaning up and do it often, acrylics seem to dry particularly quickly on brayers.

 

Monoprint © Mari French 2017
Monoprint © Mari French 2017
Monoprint © Mari French 2017
Monoprint © Mari French 2017
Monoprint © Mari French 2017
Monoprint © Mari French 2017
Monoprint © Mari French 2017

I’d still like to produce the soft look of the paint on the gelli plate itself; by the time the image has been transferred to the paper it’s lost that quality. Something worth working on.

After a few days of producing these prints I decided to have a break and go back to painting (acrylics) for a while, and it’s been interesting how the monoprinting has fed back into the new paintings. But more of that in the next post!

getting messy with monoprinting…

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Pulling the monoprint © Mari French 2017

Pulling the monoprint © Mari French 2017

I’ve wanted to try monoprinting for some time. The one time I had a go (years back) I was not impressed (excuse the pun) but I think I’d used the wrong type of paper, plate and temperament! A monoprint (or monotype) is a unique print taken from a plate on which ink or (in my case) acrylic paint has been spread with rollers. Marks, textures impressed into the ink/paint and shaped masks (eg. paper) can all be used to create and enhance the final image.

Recently inspired by the beautiful and original monoprints of artist Tonie Rigby I decided to try using a gelli plate. These are very popular at the moment but I’ve not been taken by the proliferation of bright colours and patterns often produced. Gel plates can be a bit tricky to get used to and some artists dislike the texture, but apart from the shape (A4, I prefer square sizes, so may have to cut mine down) I quite liked the slight give of the gel.

Having been stunned by Tonie Rigby’s ‘Urban boxes’ work (see her blog link above), I wondered if I too could achieve something different, a progression of my current painting series maybe. If nothing else it would be interesting and hopefully, fun to try.

 

 

Rolling the acrylic paint © Mari French
Impressing textures © Mari French
The ‘inked up’ gel plate © Mari French
Placing the receiving paper © Mari French

Well, today in the studio it was definitely interesting AND fun. I produced over a dozen bits of rubbish before I started loosening up and getting messy, employing more painterly techniques, which is when I work best. I used various acrylic paints and watercolour paper. As with my paintings I wanted to experiment – what would happen if I used this or tried that? …

I must admit I actually liked the look of inked up gel plate itself, perhaps because the transparent surface added another dimension. Today’s work was just the beginning, I’ve just started and have a way to go yet, but I’ll keep at it. Will post more of my monoprinting attempts at a later date.