Part 1 of my foray into ecoprinting
I've learned a lot since continuing my trials in ecoprinting on paper!
- I had previously thought that red Japanese maple leaves printing blue from this process was due to external dye leaking into the roll, but I made sure there were no other dye sources in subsequent batches and behold how BLUE they are! I learned that the more tannins a leaf has, the more they are likely to leave a darker print. The indigo-esque blue seems to be a characteristic of the Japanese maple as other types of maple leaves I've tried have printed more brown-red (see below). I particularly love the gradient between a rusty brown and deep blue that some of these have, almost like a ceramic glaze!
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Counter to my intuition, I found out that the UNDERSIDE of the leaf prints better than the colorful topside. You can see how the second photo in the section above is blurrier than the others, though I feel like it also has it's own ethereal character. I would love to further experiment with some of these "failed" prints by drawing or printmaking on top of them.
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I tested three types of paper: the same upcycled Italian journal pages, Strathmore cold press watercolor paper, and Fabriano hot press watercolor paper. The best results were with the Fabriano. The leaves printed very strongly on its surface, the paper took to boiling without any issues, and didn't have issues with cracks when I flattened and dried them (unlike the cold press paper). All the blue maple leaves and redbud prints above were printed on the Fabriano paper.
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So far my favorite leaves to ecoprint with: Japanese maple, Eastern redbud, Tulip/Yellow poplar. I was surprised that my oak leaf trials did not turn out well! However, I might try them again now that I know which side of the leaf prints better, and on better paper!
Some ideas I have for next experiments with these prints:
- Mixed media collage, maybe with some embroidery?
- Ink and pencil drawing
- Block printing
- Chine collé with trace monotypes
