Tetrapak Mark Making and Printing Tests

 

I always have to make a book and take a photo. Even the funky tests. Single sheet binding, instructions from Keith Smith.

I have been testing a lot of mark making tools on Tetrapak. Above is a little book I made myself. Below are all the tests. Most of the tools I used are in the photos. The paper is Stonehenge, ink is Akua carbon black. Not all the tests printed equally well, but it's information, not beauty that I'm looking for.

Fine line applicator with Golden high flow paint. Hard to control, hard to write backwards. Take a while to dry thouroughly.

PVA sprayed on with toothbrush, keep it light for a texture. Lots of small spots end up making a dark area.

Liquitex clear gesso, center is the tetrapak, right is Blick white acrylic, brushed on and scribbled with brush handle end. I need to play more with the brush handle marks.

Utrecht mat medium sprayed on with spray tool. Keep it light to get spots, more spots will hold more ink. Hard to control but I love the bigger spots.

Left dark area is an etching tool that scratches many fine lines, the grids are pieces of screening. I couldn't find most of them - the heavy plastic one above was used, also the wire. it's twisted very fine wire. These are embossed into the tetrapak.

Staples under aluminum tape on the left and above right, hammered staples on the right.

 If you try this be careful - you don't want to make permanent marks on your rollers. Extra padding is a good idea.

Aluminum tape, torn for the two horizontal pieces, crumpled for vertical piece. The long horizontal line is a fold in the tetrapak.

Above: screwdriver blade, Below square tubing. Press down hard.

 The screwdriver blade is notched.

Left: sand paper scratches, right Wiggle Jiggle writer with scribe taped on.

 It's a kid's fun drawing tool. On Amazon.

Marbling comb. On the left I tried brushing on some mat medium. I want to use these in collage. Turns out the Akua dries slowly, but is finally supposed to be waterproof.

Left some kind of etching tool - makes many very fine lines. Center: fork, Right: nail set, although maybe not the one in the photo. I think it had a larger circle end.

Wheels with spikes. For leather working and sewing. These are hard to ink well. A very soft toothbrush seems best.

Papermate ballpoint pen, wheel with spikes.

Energel 0.5 pen

Left: twisted scribe, right: scalpel

Circle test: Left twisted scribe. The five is cut out. Right: nut cracker pick. Easier to draw a circle. I am having trouble adjusting to the different feeling between a pen and the scribes which are very sharp and only really work when I pull them toward me.

Left: Jetstream pen .23, nut pick, Right Cork handled scribe. Just as sharp as the twisted scribe but easier on the hand.

Uni Jetstream pen .28, Uni Jetstream 3, .38, Pentel energel .5, Papermate 1. They all look about the same when printed. I was hoping for a finer line from the finer tips.

Top: wire tool with handle, Bottom: cork handled scribe, trying light and firm pressures.

Polymer clay tool with embedded nails. I made this one years ago.

Polymer clay tool, point on one end, circle on the other. The circle is like a nail set tool. The point is fairly smooth. I need to test this more.

My system to leave the ink on the glass plate. We have a cat, he mostly doesn't walk on the table but he might. I should put a weight on top. They claim the Akua ink doesn't dry on non-porous surfaces, so it can sit out until you use it up.