Continuing the series of regular reports documenting the production process and progress of the second issue of my artist book/comic Blotting Paper: The Recollected Graphical Impressions Of Doctor Comics, this post focuses on the image-making aspect of the project, in particular, the role that printmaking is playing in the portrayal of spirits, ghosts and apparitions in Chapter 2: A Blot On His Escutcheon.

Monotype print in sumi ink of etheric body. (© 2012 Michael Hill)

In this chapter the Doctor Comics character is teleported into the supernatural world via a dream experience. To materialise a shadowy and vaporous landscape and some of the ethereal figures he encounters sumi ink blot patterns have been manipulated on soft paper and absorbed as monoprints. Over and under-inking the blocks has resulted in intense black or under-inked white patches on the printed paper.

Monotype print in sumi ink of etheric body-© 2012 Michael Hill

This fantasy dream sequence called Dreaming Time occurs toward the end of the chapter wherin Doctor Comics confronts a few fearful looking, ghostly figures or apparitions that step out from seething, textured backgrounds. The monotype printing method and the use of sumi ink enabled the generation of experimental images with a restricted palette. The incorporeal characters were manifested and embodied in this manner. Examples of these are in the two monoprints of the etheric body and the shadowy phantom directly above and below this paragraph.

Monotype print in sumi ink of shadowy phantom-© 2012 Michael Hill

And it’s not all ghostly as there are also some light-hearted moments in this chapter of Doctor Comics collecting graphic novels, interacting with his cats, cooking, creating and reflecting.

For a visual diary record and time-line overview of this project, see all of the BLOTTING PAPER production reports.

Issue #1:   No.1   No.2   No.3   No.4   No.5   No.6   No.7   No.8   No.9   No.10   No.11   No.12   No.13   Issue#2:    No.14   No.15   No.16   No.17   No.18   No.19   No.20   No.21   No.22   No.23   No.24   No.25   No.26   No.27   No.28   No.29