I am putting together an art show with paintings, sculptures and linoleum prints, so I figured why can't a glue gun be used for fine art? A glue gun is absolutely perfect for making what is known as a "collograph", and I will lead you through the steps I took to make the newest piece for my show.
Printmaking is fun and easy to do if you have the right supplies. It's like making a big stamp, really. The best part about printmaking for me is the idea of "multiple originals". You can make an edition of 30 prints from the same plate, and they all are originals, no one print being more valuable than another. Usually in printmaking you will use a sheet of linoleum, carve a relief, and print on that. Today we are going to do a collograph, which is more akin to a collage. Typically a collograph would include objects glued to a board like leaves or lace, but the glue gun can make a great texture in itself. Most of the supplies you can find at an art supply store. Here is what you need:
- Glue gun with glue (Obviously. If you are doing this with kids, I recommend a low-temp glue gun.)
- A piece of cardboard approximately 6"x6" (The smaller the board, the more difficult it will be to make an accurate design.)
- Pencil, highlighter, marker, piece of charcoal or other drawing implement of your choice.
- Soft rubber brayer (I like soft rubber, but you can use hard rubber too if you feel daring enough.)
- Printing paper (You can use fancy paper made especially for printmaking, but any paper will do.)
- Printing ink (I recommend Daniel Smith's water-soluable inks. They are not as toxic as your typical printmaking ink and require way less cleanup.)
- Baren or other printing implement (You can use a wooden spoon, your hand, whatever.)
- Plexiglas (For spreading your ink.)
First, draw your design on your board (figure 1). I kept my design simple so that I could fudge a bit on the actual tracing with the glue gun. Depending on your skill with the glue gun you can be as detailed as you want!
Figure 1 - drawing
Next start tracing your lines with the glue gun (figure 2). I wanted a drippy effect with this print, so I made sure to work in a lot of texture and weird drippy elements.
Figure 2 - gluing
Here is what a finished plate looks like(figure 3). Try to keep the glue all a fairly even thickness to make printing easier.
Figure 3 - plate finished
After this point you can seal your plate with some spray vinyl, but since this is a plate made on cardboard with hot glue, you can print it to destruction and not be incredibly sad. I don't want to be responsible for your sadness. Here is the set up (figure 4). Pistachio completely optional. Ink is going to get everywhere. Don't wear anything you wouldn't want to get ink on, and be sure to put paper down so you don't damage whatever table you use to print on.
Figure 4 - set up
After organizing your workspace (organization is very important and will make cleanup much easier), spread your ink on your plexiglas and ink up your brayer by rolling it over the ink on the plexiglas. You want to have this inking surface tacky, but not overly inky. Transfer your ink by rolling in different directions over your plate (figure 5).
Figure 5 - inking
This is what your plate should look like before printing. It should be tacky and the ink should be slightly raised (figure 6).
Figure 6 - ink saturation
Next step, printing! Gently place your paper over your plate and use your baren (Or wooden spoon. Or fingers.) to print (figure 7). Push the paper against the plate until you can just start to see the ink coming through. You can always pull up a side to check how well it is printing onto the paper, and then place the paper back on the plate and continue printing.
Figure 7 - printing
I got kind of frustrated with the baren because of the uneven nature of the hot glue, so I just used my fingers (figure 8).
Figure 8 - details
After you are satisfied with the ink transfer, gently pull off your sheet of paper in one motion. Your results should be something like this (figure 9).
Figure 9 - peeling off print
Ink up your brayer again and repeat until you run out of ink or your plate disintegrates! I printed on a bunch of different paper styles (figure 10), and I think it turned out pretty good!
Figure 10 - done!
Cleanup is a breeze. Since you used water-soluable ink just run your brayer, plexiglas, plate, hands, children, whatever under cold water. Let the prints dry for a couple of days, depending on how much ink you used it could take a while until they are no longer tacky. Once they dry, sign them and marvel at the new skill you just learned.
This technique could be used to decorate greeting cards, gift tags, even t-shirts! Experiment with different inks and textures and have a blast!
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