My work with digital grounds is still in the experimental phase. I decided to test out the medium for non-porous surfaces on something unusual. I had metallic cardstock leftover from my son’s Seeburg tabletop jukebox Halloween costume. The cardstock has a funhouse mirror-like surface – and I thought it might be interesting to print on.
I applied the digital grounds on the cardstock first horizontally and then vertically with a foam brush, letting it dry in between coats. I was worried that I could see brushstrokes on the smooth surface – amazingly enough, when dry they were invisible!
First up was a black and white photograph, I was thinking the highlights having a metallic sheen would be interesting – but I wasn’t thrilled with the final result. I decided to try a color photograph – a collage I made from photos I took at a vintage car show.
It was an intersting result, but not quite what I was looking for. The digital grounds do work, and they work beautifully, it’s amazing that this material was able to take an inkjet print with such clarity, but I wasn’t overly impressed by the results on this paper. It’s too reflective and hard to look at. I’ll have to try printing on a duller metallic surface. As you can tell, I’m obsessed with this new medium. Check back – there’s more to come!
Golden makes the digital ground, and their website has a store finder in case this is something that you’d like to chase down!
See my earlier experimentation with digital grounds HERE, HERE and HERE!
