Alternative Printmaking

The digital era has brought us to the point where images can be reproduced exactly and without any loss of quality with the push of the ‘Print’ button in Photoshop. And there is nothing wrong with that! A great photograph is a work of art in and of itself. But lately, I have been giving a lot of thought and doing a good deal of research about how to make photographic prints into something that has the potential to be more expressive and unique, such that there can’t be an exact reproduction made.

These are some of the techniques I have been reading about

Printing on ‘non-standard’ media – This is just the start of doing things differently. Of course, there is the ever-popular printing on plexiglass, metal, glass, and canvas. But while prints on these media certainly have a different appearance than a print on paper, they, too, can be reproduced entirely with the press of a button. The first step to producing something more unique would be to use an inkjet receptive coating on various fine art papers that are not available for inkjet printers. These coatings need to be applied to the paper, and it is in the application method that a level of uniqueness can be produced. The brush strokes involved in the application can be made in a very organic fashion and are, or can be, made visible in the final piece. Hence, you can end up with a final print on beautiful paper that is not ordinarily used for making photographic prints and which can impart a painterly feeling. In addition, the brush strokes can form a truly three-dimensional textured pattern over the print. The best resource and materials I have found for this type of work are from a company called InkAid.

Image Transfer – There are various methods of transferring images from inkjet prints, Xerox copies of prints, and laser-printed photos to other media. These techniques are similar to analog ‘Polaroid transfers.’ They all require the painting of a layer of liquid or gel that can accept the image onto whatever the carrier media is to be. The media accepting the image can be as ‘standard’ as the fine art papers I described above to wood, metal, fabrics, tile, or just about any object you can think of. What makes such artwork unique is not only the brushstrokes that can be seen in the final image (from painting the liquid or gel onto the media), but also the uniqueness of the media itself and the fact that it’s surface texture becomes incorporated into the final artwork. InkAid also makes transfer gels. I suggest the ‘Mixed Media Photography Book’ by Nitsa Malik (link at end of post) for a higher-level introduction to this topic.

Hand Painting – A unique look can be given to photographs, particularly black and white photos, by adding color to them by hand. This can be achieved with many different types of paint (oil, acrylic, watercolor) as well as with markers or pens.

Montage and Collage – Both collage and photomontage can be accomplished digitally by using Photoshop to combine scanned or photographed objects. However, you can also physically integrate photographs with other media or artifacts to make a unique piece of artwork.

Photo Encaustics – Encaustic painting involves using pigments and wax to create artwork. But there are also ways to combine the art of encaustics with that of photography in order to create truly one-of-a-kind pieces. For example, photographs can be mounted onto wood and then coated with encaustic wax. While doing so, one can incorporate various textures and even pigments into specific areas of the wax to enhance the artwork. This can even be combined with collage by incorporating various media or objects into the wax layers. Finally, encaustics can also be combined with image transfer techniques.

Cyanotype – Cyanotype is an old analog method of producing images without a camera. An object (often one with fine detail) is placed on media coated with a light-sensitive solution that turns blue when exposed to a sufficient amount of light from the sun. The media under the object is protected from exposure, resulting in an outline of the subject. The results can be quite interesting in appearance. Cyanotypes were originally made using light-sensitive coatings that could be quite toxic, but modern coatings are much safer to use.

If you are interested in reading about these techniques, here are some suggestions:

The Mixed Media Photography Book’ by Nitsa Malik (associate link)

Encaustics Course I have purchased this (not an associate)

Cyanotype Course I have purchased this (not an associate)

Once I start experimenting, I will post some examples.

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