Me at Artplein Spui Amsterdam in 2016

After being away forĀ a while Iā€™m starting again at the artmarket Artplein Spui Amsterdam!!
These are the dates Iā€™ll be participating in 2018:

AprilĀ 1
May 27
June 24Ā (stand in, so not definite yet)
September 16
October 14
November 11
December 9

Fun fact: Art Plein Spui Amsterdam celebrates its 30th birthday this year and Iā€™m sure
festivities will happenĀ smile

Visit Artplein Spui Amsterdam every Sunday from 11:00 till 06:30 (February ā€“ December).

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Toad with Cherry Blossom Petals,Ā 2018, watercolour, mounted paper on wood, 20 x 30 cm

This January I wrote a blog about mounting watercolour paper on a wooden panel.
In February I wrote a blog about how I had started painting on the panel and now in March
Iā€™m writing another a blog about the panel letting you know itā€™s finished.


Last year I made 5 watercolour miniatures on Ampersand encausticbord. In 2016 I made my
Flower Portrait series which were a combination of bistre with sometimes ecoline
or watercolour. In the past Iā€™ve been drawing in bistre a lot but always combining bistre with
Indian ink, soft pastels or Derwent Inktense pencils.

This toad is my first detailed watercolour project of this size (20 x 30 cm) and I loved
every moment working on it.


Sure, there were moments of procrastination when I was nervous about how to go on but it
got never frustrating.

Working on this project I fell in love with the medium of watercolour (combined with the
paper being mounted on a hard surface) so you will see plenty more in the near future!

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Last week I spend working on a commission which I canā€™t say anything about just yet.
The art I made is a present for someone I know whom in theory could read this post so Iā€™m not
saying anything until the present has been received.

The only thing I will share is that the blob of paint in the picture above is a mixture of
Marabuā€™s Metallic-Liner Metallic-Olive and Metallic-Dark Green and was used for the said
commission.

Edit: Want to knowĀ what this blob ended up being? Click here to see the end result!

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(left = water-based,Ā middle = oil-based first try, right = oil-based second try/ different ink)

Last week I asked for your advice, through this blog but also Instagram and FacebookĀ (on my
personal account which is Dutch).Ā I got aĀ lot of reactions and I got very good advice.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond!

Most people voted for the water-based print simply because itā€™s darker. So people chose
clarityĀ above detail.

The voting didnā€™t change my mind, I still prefer the detail of the oil-based print but now that I
know the preferences of others Iā€™m going to continue experimenting with different kinds of
oil-based inks and make sure to end up with a nice dark print. Hoping to achieve both clarity
and detail.

Last Thursday IĀ made a print using a different oil-based ink and got a wonderful dark and
detailed print. Before I go on and perfect the printing process I need to see how it holdsĀ in
laundry.

For now Iā€™m still waiting for the ink to dry which takes a lot more time compared to a
water-based ink. Fingers crossed it holds!!

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(left = water-based, right = oil-based)

Next to my job at Van Beek Art Supplies, my weekly bug stamp, my watercolour
experiment
Ā 
on panel and the start on a new lino print Iā€™ve been working on another experiment:
printing on textile!
Iā€™ve been using my Sleeping Cat lino from last yearsā€™ ā€˜15 Linoā€™s in 30 Daysā€™ project.
Next to just trying things out by myself Iā€™ve been reading a lot on the internet too.
The problem Iā€™m running into is that most favourite brands I read about are not available
in the Netherlands and having it shipped here is a bit too expensive for me right now.
A lot of people use Permaset Aqua which is actually made for screen printing but lots of
people succeed perfectly in using it for printing lino on textiles.

After a bit of experimenting with a soft brayer and a thick layer of Permaset Aqua ink I
managed to get some good prints.
But the thing is I also did some prints with some leftover etching ink and I like those
results much better!

As you can see on the picture above, the water-based Permaset Aqua print is much cruder than
the print next to it which is printed in oil based ink. Iā€™ve read more complaints about this on the
internet. Somehow the results with water-based inks in general are always a bit crude.
Not a problem when your design has big shapes but my prints are mostly quite delicate.
And now Iā€™m puzzled on how to continue next.
Do I continue with water-based inkĀ which has aĀ cruder end result butĀ is set after ironing or do
I go for the nicer print which I fear will remainĀ vulnerable for solvents like white spirit.
I tend to go for oil based because itā€™s more beautiful andĀ I must say next to my studio
clothing none of my textiles ever had a collision with white spiritĀ or any other solventā€¦
What do you think?

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