Lyn Bishop : Sharing Secrets

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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