Mistakes are bad. Mistakes are good.

So, I have been working on a print for a while now that I was really excited about. But with each layer I loathed it more and more. My problem was that I decided I could just wing it and make it up as I went along. The first two layers were perfect, going down as smooth, even gradients of greens and blues. From there on, everything went south. My impromptu designs came out flat and childish, my registration on the plate was off by just a hair too much, my life was hell in the print shop.

Here is where I left it last, a monument of mistakes, hating it more than hate itself:


Terrible, right?

My plan to salvage the piece was to cover it with layers of abstract lines over layers of representational contour drawings covered with layers of Chine-Collé . Today I tried adding a base layer of abstract lines using the Trace Monotype method. This process involves laying down a "palette" of ink onto glass, then placing the paper over it. Then, by drawing on the back of the paper, a very unique, fuzzy line is lifted from the palette. This creates an almost photocopy like quality when done right (See the above link). So, today I mixed up a reddish color, taped out a rectangular palette that would perfectly align with the dimensions of the print, thinly rolled out the ink, prayed, and laid my print face down(!) onto the sea of ink. I slowly moved across the back of the piece, carefully tracing out the design I wanted. When I was done, I took a deep breath and made to lift the paper from the ink. Within the first instant of this motion I could tell it had gone entirely wrong. The page was completely stuck, making a loud, wet sucking sound as I did so. I turned it over…

Loudly: "FUCK!"

Then I laughed. I laughed deeply from my gut. I loved it! It is perfect. It completely destroyed all of the mistakes I had made, covering them with a wild, amorphous shape.

I had made a very simple mistake. The ink needed for a successful trace monotype must me very stiff, meaning viscous, thick, and hard. The stiffest ink in the shop is Lithography ink. I had grabbed a tin of red litho, and few spots of other colors, mixing them together. Stupidly, blindly, I just went ahead with my presumption that the litho ink would be stiff enough. In hindsight it was much too loose, and had I been paying attention (and perhaps not hated my print enough to not care) I would have never made this mistake. This happy accident.


It is much more subtle in person, my iPhone takes terrible pictures of art.

So anyway, more layers to come, this time correctly though.

Song of the Day: Boss Bossa, Funk Shui