"Old Bones" An Encaustic Monotype

The majority of my art practice of late has been focused on print making, encaustic monotypes to be specific. I really enjoy creating encaustic monotypes in part because it combines 2 of my passions, painting and tool making. I also really enjoy the mark making process when working this way. I have to be loose and relaxed when making marks, otherwise they just don't work. Over the last few months I have made 100's of prints, some of which I like but most don't make the cut. 

Old Bones | Encaustic Monotype on Panel

The print I am featuring in this blog post is one that I like, it is called "Old Bones". It was created with a Silicone Blade Tool that I made for working on the Hot box. This particular Silicone Blade Tool is wide (over 9 inches) so I wanted to make only one mark, with no overlap.

Silicone Blade Tool (6 inch)

I have a single Roland HOTbox (16x22) so I had to consider the space I needed to make the mark using a wide Silicone Blade Tool. I was working with a soft color palette (EVANS ENCAUSTICS Apricot, White and Silver Encaustic paint) so I wanted the mark to reflect the softness of the color and the underlying organic shapes. EVANS ENCAUSTIC paint is heavily pigmented, so even softer colors like Apricot maintain their richness when printed on paper. The amount of pigmentation really matters when you create encaustic monotypes, that is why I typically use R&F or EVANS encaustic paints.

Detail | Old Bones

With this print, I purposely added some deviation to the pulled mark in order to create more tension in the reductive lines and shapes. The end result reminded me of the bleached bones of a cows skull, thus the title "Old Bones". 

I used a handmade Asian paper for this print which is very smooth and absorbent. It also sticks to the plate, so it tends not to move when burnishing the medium to paper, a feature that I really appreciate. I do not carry large size paper in my store,  but we will be visiting all of the paper stores in Taiwan in February during the Art and Adventure Taipei trip.

I am happy to work on commissions for tools if you have a specific idea of what you want in terms of size or mark contact me. I like working with artists to create custom marks.

Happy Creating,

Elizabeth

Schowachert@gmail.com