Mimetalk was asking me the other day a bit about the textures I use in my work, and, to tell you the truth, I’m actually not totally happy with the ones I’m currently using. Typically I use the same scan of a sheet of coldpress paper, with the levels turned way up, to simulate a screenprinted effect, but I personally think it’s only convincing at a distance. So yesterday I set about to make some new ones, to make my digital work look more like real prints. I’d like to use an ACTUAL screenprint for texture one day, but I’ve never screenprinted before and don’t have the resources on hand, so I used the hacks described below.
My first attempts (photo 1) were using a linoleum block on slightly textured bristol — it was probably due to the paint I used, but these didn’t come out how I wanted at all. They’ll be useful for something someday I’m sure, but right now I’m looking for a much much finer-grained look. After several failed prints I decided to just roll the brayer directly on some Canson medium-tooth paper, and it turned out much closer to what I’m looking for (2, 3, 4). So I scanned them, and cropped the useful bits into several different files (5, 6). They’re not perfect; the great thing about my old texture is that the grain was evenly distributed so that I could throw it on top of anything with minimal fussing, but these take some work combining and positioning to create the right effect. But maybe it’s better to spend a bit more time choosing where the texture is most apparent? Anyway, the final image is a close-up of the first piece I’ve tried the new textures out in. I think they get the job done, but I’m going to keep playing.
If you have any texture techniques of your own, feel free to share!
