Eco printing on paper
Tutor: Rachel Moore, print artist
Botanical printing, eco dyeing, eco printing...call it what you will, in this session, Rachel shows how to harness the naturally forming compounds in leaves and flowers and transfer their form to print. It’s experimental and varies from plant to plant but the results can be stunning.
Preparation
Prepare your materials and find a sturdy table or floor to work on.
Video time
30 minutes
- 20 sheets of paper - watercolour paper or thick paper 150gsm works best
- 2 cups of brown or white vinegar
- A spray bottle filled with water and 1tbsp of vinegar
Botanicals:
- Red, white or brown onion skins (the papery bit)
- Eucalyptus leaves
- Rose leaves and petals (dark in colour)
- If seasonal/available, cosmos flowers, marigold flowers, geranium leaves, maples leaves, sumac leaves
- A few rusty metal objects eg. nails, tin can, springs etc
- Very thick cardboard or thin wood slightly larger in size than your pieces of paper
- A ball of string or 4 x large bull dog clips
- An old saucepan that you no longer use for cooking, large enough to hold your paper and cardboard/wood
- A container of cold water larger in size than your paper and cardboard/wood
- Tongs for taking your paper and cardboard/wood out of the saucepan