Took the better part of the day to organize supplies (ie find them in the bottomless pit I call my studio), prep the plate, paint it, set the press, find, cut and soak the paper, print it and dry it (will take at least 24 hours to dry completely). Oh....and make sure both the right and left sides of my brain were engaged! It was fun to do a print - my favourite part - is pulling the print - like opening a present, it is always a surprise to see how well the pigment has transferred and how it looks on paper versus the metal plate. Didn't plan anything just painted. I've included a few pics from start to finish to give you an idea of how I am working. Few surprises for me as to what pigments did and didn't transfer - white does not usually transfer, but most that was on the plate did print (that was a surprise, was thinking it would work as a resist), the grey C'aran d'Ache crayon and the yellow chalk pastel did not print well (acted as a resist). Also - what you put down first is the layer that will sit on top when you pull the print. Because I am using water soluble pigments the plate doesn't need to be printed right away (I have left plates for a week) - but you can't leave it for too long or the paint will start to flake off. For this print I probably could have soaked the paper for another minute.
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Plate and materials ready for some
mono-print making |
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Pigment on plate
Masking tape is still on edges |
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Plate ready for printing. Masking tape
has been removed and edges have been
given a wipe |
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Plate after printing. You can see the pigments
that didn't print - not uncommon - some just don't. But you don't know
until you try. Anything that is water soluble should print and
materials that aren't water soluble will act as a resist. You will see
in the next picture where the grey acted as a resist and you
have the white of the paper showing. |
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Finished image size 5"X7"
on BFK Rives paper
You can always go back in and rework the print once it is dry |
Printmaking is one of my favourite art mediums. I had forgotten this and realize that I have missed it a lot. Love the creative freedom of working on the plate - if you don't like what is happening, you can always rinse it off and start again. Takes away the pressure of that blank piece of paper and the 'what if this doesn't work out and I have wasted a piece of 'expensive' paper!
