Indigo sketchbook

This sketchbook was first seen 9-Jan-2015, freshly made and ready to go. Most days since I’ve been working in it, trying different media to see what results I can get.
Some general lessons:

• The paper (110 gsm cartridge paper dipped into an indigo vat) was very absorbent. Thin colours like inks and most felt-tip pens just soaked in leaving little trace.
• The surface was very fragile. If the paint on a stamp was too tacky the paper’s surface would lift away with the stamp, leaving white paper, rather than the paint being deposited on the surface.
• The surface would also lift if the book was closed while something was still tacky, with the paint adhering to the baking paper between each page.
• It was hard to find the right media in the right colours to stand out against the busy patterning of the surface.
• It was easy to lose the beauty of the indigo patterned surface by covering too much with opaque media.

Indigo plant. White conte crayon

Various correction fluids

Various white and silver media

Hand in conte crayon

Tad. White conte

Tad. White conte

Gesso, undiluted and diluted. Painting and stamp

Slightly diluted gesso, wine cork as stamp. Like the combination of order and organic

Orchid blossom. Carbothello pencils. Like the effect of detailed flower and sketchy background. Lots of white allows shading in darker colours

Almost got binned. Oil stick, oil pastels, glitter ink…

Stamping with lumiere products. Glue and foil lifted surface.

Conte crayons. Plan for indigo blouse. Fast bold lines show well

Charcoal and white conte, looking down at orchid. Achieved (blunt) tonal range and mildly interesting shapes

Conte crayon. Banksia at Kiama. Trying for bold, strong lines.

Ellen at Minnamurra Falls. Charcoal and white conte crayon

Very loose orchid in felt-tip markers, a little yellow & white chalk to add some light

Collage. Because I think I should. Blerk

Reading Ruth Issett & got enthused. Monoprinting in acrylic, marks from grouting tools & bubblewrap. Lost the indigo

Highlighting the indigo marks! Silver pen. Was going to echo (Jim Lambie) but would lose patterning. Like a map, so Tolkien elvish lettering

Liked the silver, so stitching webs/stars in various metallic threads. A little micro-pearl in “sky”.

Wove across hole in cotton from indigo dyeing + metallics. Paper weaving below. Has possibilities

Various home-made circle stamps, lustre pigment inks. Like the sense of depth

More circles in acrylic. Exercise from Ruth Issett. Lost the indigo. Blah

Finishing up the acrylic paint, using a plastic card.

Looking to add depth, used tissue paper in heavy structure gel. Semi-successful, but not keen on plastic sheen

Tried to “enhance” indigo with blue and black acrylic in gloss medium, some iridescent medium, some indigo-dyed tissue. Overwhelming

Monoprinting. Now have gel retarder which helps with acrylic paint. Layers almost work, but lose indigo

A simple monoprint in acrylic with retarder gel. Better when not throwing everything at it.

A couple of sketchbook pages didn’t make it in. Some were basically repeats. One was overstamped in indigo, which was awkward to do into the book format. The separate A3 page on the left was much better. I really like the effect of the layers of indigo – the initial full dip, then dips of various found things as stamps.
Another extra followed a suggestion from Nola to use coloured crayons as a resist before dipping into indigo. The results from my quick test were unexciting and I haven’t done a followup. I think more solid areas of colouring would work better, as well as sticking to the lighter colours like yellow and orange.

 

Reference

Issett, R. (2007)  Print Pattern & Colour for paper and fabric London: Batsford