The Natural Collection Through Collagraph Printmaking: Part 2

Reader Contribution by Barbara Hengstenberg
Published on July 23, 2018
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If you’ve followed along with the idea of collecting from nature in Part 1 of this post, I hope you enjoyed your time spent contemplating the natural world. Now it’s time to affix the bits and pieces of treasures you’ve found onto your plate, and then we can start printing.

Composition

First, decide how large you’d like your design to be. Are you making small notecards? Framed art prints? Cut your cardboard to whatever size you desire. Any creases or other protruding parts will most likely appear in your final print, so notice them as you design your plate. Next, lay out your leaves, grasses, etc. onto your plate — keep in mind that the design will be a mirror image once it’s printed on paper. I affix my materials to the cardboard plate using a paint-on adhesive. Once the materials are pretty well affixed, I brush the adhesive over the entire exposed area of the plate. If stems stick up too much, I’ll staple them to the plate. Leave the plate to dry. This sometimes takes 24 hours, depending on how thick the adhesive is applied.

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