Way back a while ago I started to work on this collagraph plate.
It started when I looked at one of my 'Under Construction' pieces and thought how much I loved the stitched-on twigs.
So I sketched an indication of them onto tracing paper, and transferred them onto some grey board.
And began cutting.
And then I shellacked the plate.
And so it remained for over 6 weeks until last Friday when I picked it up and got to print. At last.
I chose to print with a combination of burnt sienna and Payne's grey, with loosened up water-based etching inks.
It was quite the challenge to get the surface lines to take the Payne's Grey without smudging the back ground too much; but then I worked out it would be fine if there were smudges.
Same with the edges. I started out trying to keep within the lines; then decided to actively rub outside the lines
I hadn't printed in aeons it felt like, so I was tentative with the pressure, but in the end I quite liked the ethereal look of the print. Although the more heavily printed parts don't please me.
But there are some lovely moments.
They are so far removed from twigs now. Are they people dancing? Are they a forest after the bushfires? Are they hieroglyphics telling of our times? So many things can be seen within them and that intrigues me.
I was particularly happy with how well the ink came off the plate without a laborious clean up session. Yay.
The works will act as a reference and guide to future experiments and hopefully prints. At some point I want to include letterpress with prints in some way so that will be the next bit...
It started when I looked at one of my 'Under Construction' pieces and thought how much I loved the stitched-on twigs.
So I sketched an indication of them onto tracing paper, and transferred them onto some grey board.
And began cutting.
And then I shellacked the plate.
And so it remained for over 6 weeks until last Friday when I picked it up and got to print. At last.
I chose to print with a combination of burnt sienna and Payne's grey, with loosened up water-based etching inks.
It was quite the challenge to get the surface lines to take the Payne's Grey without smudging the back ground too much; but then I worked out it would be fine if there were smudges.
Same with the edges. I started out trying to keep within the lines; then decided to actively rub outside the lines
I hadn't printed in aeons it felt like, so I was tentative with the pressure, but in the end I quite liked the ethereal look of the print. Although the more heavily printed parts don't please me.
But there are some lovely moments.
I kept printing with different papers and different pressures and directions and ended with a stash of prints that I numbered and recorded what I did differently between each one.
They are so far removed from twigs now. Are they people dancing? Are they a forest after the bushfires? Are they hieroglyphics telling of our times? So many things can be seen within them and that intrigues me.
I was particularly happy with how well the ink came off the plate without a laborious clean up session. Yay.
The works will act as a reference and guide to future experiments and hopefully prints. At some point I want to include letterpress with prints in some way so that will be the next bit...
beautiful prints!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mo - some goodies in there (and some less than wonderful) but all good learnings!
Deletethese twigs make beautiful prints !
ReplyDeleteThanks! I loved the forms they took as I cut the grey board; and they did come up well. Still lot sot learn but a good re-start. Go well!
Delete