I have loved doing this - recently I have been facilitating lots of wonderful workshops, but I haven't been drawing and - if I'm honest - I was itching to pick up my pen and pencil and draw for a print!
Fortunately, I had a commission that was scheduled in for after the community mural and Ashton Court workshops, which proved the perfect excuse to get into the studio again.
I was asked to draw Cargo 1 and 2 for a private commission. I researched onsite, taking photographs and sketching before retiring to the studio where I spent hours and hours drawing. Once I was happy with the design, I sent it for approval before creating the layers and adding texture to my artwork. I love creating the layers for silkscreen printing and enjoyed finding the materials to produce the feel and quality that I wanted for the piece - it was my chance to play before printing began!
On the day of printing, pretty much everything that could go wrong did. It was sooo humid that the tape I needed to section off the screen kept lifting and lost it's stick. I made a boo boo when coating my first screens and then chose a textile screen (i.e. the wrong screen) to expose for the detail, which proved really tricky to print.
Because of the many, varied, technical issues, I had to get someone to collect my children from school so that I could continue to problem solve and finish the print.
Despite all of the hiccups and the challenge on the day, I am super pleased with the end result! It's a seven colour print, with a lovely wash and colour graduation in the sky and a gritty, graphite feel to the concrete road. The detail printed well in the end and I am thrilled that the colour matching tests I did at Cargo proved successful when translated onto the somerset satin paper.
I will shortly be producing a limited edition version of this print in neons. Watch this space!