inking and discharging

© 2010 BJ Parady

This is the original image I used to make a Thermofax screen–it’s from a photo I took of a pair of old bur oaks at Nelson Lake Park, near Batavia, IL. In Photoshop Elements, I simplified the image to just black and white.

It is definitely borderline as to the fine detail–the areas in the middle of the tree have very thin defining stencil lines. I do like to push the envelope; this time I pushed it maybe a little too far.

© 2010 BJ Parady

This, I think, explains why this print doesn’t have much detail. I made it with Jacquard Discharge Paste. While I really like the paste in general–and although it may not show in this photo, there is a great range of hue in this piece–it probably is a little thin for this particular stencil. I’ve lost some of the spaces under the trees, and most of the details in the canopy.

Not that the prints I discharged are unusable–I’ll probably still play with them. But the ones I printed with fabric ink came out better:

© 2010 BJ Parady

or this:

© 2010 BJ Parady

I played with two colors while applying the ink, switching back and forth between a brown and a spring green. I managed to get seven prints all together, so I can play with them.

It’s kind of odd that I’m doing this at all–they’re way more realistic than the pieces I’m making currently. But I like them, and they help pass the time while I’m mulling big decisions about a major piece…decisions which involve a heat gun…