Lyn Bishop : Sharing Secrets

The Digital Monoprint is an interesting hybrid among printmaking techniques. It’s not exactly a digital print even though the image itself comes from a digital matrix. The artist’s hand is imbedded in the process, and imparts the random imperfections that give the print it’s interesting characteristics.

The two necessary ingredients for creating Digital Monoprint Transfers are printmaking paper and a precoated carrier sheet with the digital image printed on it. The photos below show a wet transfer process that uses moist paper to initiate the transfer.

The first step is to prepare the carrier sheet for digital printing. Paint one coat of Golden Digital Ground for Non Porous Surfaces onto a sheet of polyester film or acetate. Allow this to dry for several hours or overnight. Prepare the digital image and then print it on the precoated polyester. I flipped the image horizontal in the print driver so that it would remain right-reading. I found that I had to try several different printer driver settings before I settled on the one that worked best for my ink and printer combination. The bottom line is don’t be afraid to experiment.

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There are several new Digital Grounds from Golden that have hit the market, allowing artists to create printable surfaces from a variety of alternative substrates. I’ve recently had the opportunity to test them before public release and am excited by the results.

For several years I’ve been experimenting with alternative surfaces for digital printmaking. While almost any porous surface can be used as a substrate for inkjet printing, unless it’s been precoated for digital media the results are often inferior, resulting in dull, blurry images. And for artists looking to print on non-traditional surfaces like acetate, mylar or metal, the ink has always pooled, run or smeared on the surface. Applying a precoat helps to control how the ink sits on the surface of the substrate, improving color density, and preventing running or smearing.

The InkAid precoat medium paved the way for artists wishing to explore alternative substrates for digital printing, offering a clear, white matte and pearlescent precoat product for use turning both traditional and non-traditional materials into inkjet friendly substrates. For several years I’ve been using the InkAid clear product as a precoat for what I call ‘Luminescent’ surfaces – papers prepared with a pearlescent acrylic – before printing. I’m absolutely in love with this technique, as the prints exhibit a subtle glow and change their appearance as the light changes throughout the day. Without the precoat, the ink would pool on the surface and run all over the place. With the precoat, the ink sits firmly in place and allows the underlying pearlescent to shimmer through the ink, creating jewel tones that are really beautiful.
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