Mixed media prints- with extra blue!

I've added another layer of complexity to my monoprints last Thursday: cyanotype! I added a layer of cyanotype (aka blueprint) under the prints- so it's really the first layer- using a drawing loosely-based on the printed image. I think the results are really interesting and I think it adds another dimension to the images.

For those of you that are new to my blog, a cyanotype or blueprint is a simple photographic process that is described here. I learned this technique almost thirty years ago! I actually learned this process from my printmaking professor, Robert Strohmeier. He used the process in the same way: as a base for a monoprint. He often would start with a cyanotype (usually a drawing on acetate) and print over it using stone lithography and sometimes adding a third layer, a zinc plate etching. Often he added more drawing with oil pastel on top for even more complexity and color. The result was a rich, multi-layered print that could not be produced with just one process. For me, this was the epitome of printmaking and has influenced my artwork to this day.

 I'm going to be working with this mixed-media approach for the next few weeks, maybe even doing some toning to add some variation from the blue.

Two versions of Fig. 15, hot off the etching press! Note the "omega" symbol in the one on the left- this is intentional.

Here is the new version of "Fig. 12, Conflict" that I think really is starting to come close to my original intention for this image.

Fig. 12, monoprint with added cyanotype  image.

More fun in the print shop next week!
~Rebecca