Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Preparations for Etching and my Pig in Jacket

I have bought a few basics for etching. Some small zinc plates, some hard and soft ground and a scraper/burnisher.

But for etching on metals you need lots more stuff and I had to read up how to do it again. A file for the edges, a hot plate (or the cooker :) for warming the plate for the application of the ground and a roller for applying this sort of ball ground (which I don’t have). Then there is the etching solution. 

I found an old file of Dads and filed down the edges of a small 4 x4 inch zinc block which I bought from the very nice people at Hawthorn Printmaking who have supplied lots of my printmaking stuff, the etching chemicals and lino and inks and a roller etc. They are a great company.
You bevel and polish the edges to stop them cutting into the paper and the blankets and in order not to have a black border. It should be a smooth bevel… mine was a bit rough.. but I think it’s all in the technique.

 

After that it’s degreasing the plate with some Comet and then my very hit and miss application of the hard ground. I don’t have a roller I can sacrifice so tried to brush it on.

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It started off much too thick and so chipped when I scratched into it, so I tried again. Then I thought it was too thin.Then seemed too patchy. In all I started drawing different things on this block and then reapplying the ground 4 times.

Eventually, it just had to do and I made a sketch of my Pig in Jacket. It’s a little porcelain pig which I had for many years. Sadly, along with almost everything else I owned it was lost 3 years ago in the fire. But because of the pig project I looked out a photo. He is very sweet and deserves a really nice drawing or painting which I will get round to soon.
The next step was taping the back of the plate so that it doesn’t disintegrate in the etch.

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Sketch, and patchy hard ground with the drawing

Next I made the etching solution which I had to look up online. It’s basically copper sulphate and salt. It’s the first time I have ever made up an etching solution, the only other times I have etched a plate the tutors had a nice acid solution made up.

This is classed as “ non toxic” .. but should perhaps be called less toxic. It’s a beautiful blue green liquid and when the plate went in I had no idea how long to leave it in or what would happen. I gave it about 10 mins and took it out thinking it was a complete disaster and that my patchy ground was a failure..but.. to be honest it wasn’t too bad!

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The green etching solution and the hard ground being removed.

I removed the ground to reveal something like the image I had expected with a few strange additions. It’s a bit of a mess because I had started drawing into the ground a few times so there are some odd scratches here and there which don’t really make sense but, actually, I was amazed it worked. Another bit of printy magic.

I was rather too keen to get some images printed and made a few really poor pale prints before realising I would have to tighten the press much more and leave more ink on.

Eventually by 5 o’clock I had a few prints left on the table and lots more in the bin.

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The Plate and the Pig

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My Pig in Jacket…with a bird which seems to have a strange lasso thing round it’s head. Either that or the pig is wielding a small hacksaw.. Hmm…who knows.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Printing Some Old Etching Plates

I want to try some more etching and so thought I would print up some of the old USA  plates to get me going. I had made them in Florida at an evening class run by David Hunter. David’s work is classic, detailed, precise and lovely. I learnt a lot in just a term.

Here is one of his etchings called Fisher Creek. It is the quintessential Florida waterline with elegant white egrets slowly flapping along past the strange knees of the Bald Cypress trees. He achieves a lovely range of tones in his prints which can really only be seen in the originals.

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Fisher Creek 12 x 6 inches. See more of David’s work on his website here

The plates were one of the few art things that made it back to me in the UK. The USA customs “took” all my watercolours and best brushes. I guess these plates were not immediately useful!

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So here they are, the Bee, Jessie my old lurcher, and some decorative plates which I combined with the bee. They seem Ok, except for some oxidisation spots here and there but they are fine for some experiments.

Inking up an etching plate is so different from lino. I remembered using bits of card for applying the ink and then scrim and tissue to clean up. Wiping away is an art in itself as you can clean up too much, or leave the ink patchy. 

Then the paper needs to be dampened and then blotted and I had to make a different sort of registration plate and adjust the press.
Also I was using oil based inks which means more cleaning up.

The 5 prints I managed were varied; some over inked, some not inked up enough, one single bee not too bad. None really perfect. It’s a learning process.

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This plate was made with soft ground and impressed leaves. (I think this technique is rather frowned upon by purists!)

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This is a combination of the bee and the ginkgo

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Here are the five prints two Jessies, and the Bee and Ginkgo combos plus the plates.

I am going to try different sorts of plates, acrylic, paper and maybe, when I feel ready some copper.  Tomorrow I am attempting to prepare a zinc plate. It will be interesting!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Experiments with “Bee and Citrus”.

I spent an interesting afternoon with my Adana, a Boxcar Press polymer plate from a couple of years ago, some type and a lot of paper.

While I was in the USA I had a couple of designs made into polymer “letterpress” plates and this one I thought I could adapt for a card. 
The original design was done using scraperboard. It shows a honey bee visiting the Buddha’s Hand Citrus flower in Leu Gardens in Orlando. It was a plant I was fond of and honey bees just love it.

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To get the image ready for plate making I scanned it, then fiddled about with it and cleaned it up in Illustrator to produce this digital image :

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The file was then emailed to the very excellent people at Boxcar Press who turned the design (quite magically) into the printing block. It’s a great development for letterpress because the polymer plates are more affordable than the old zinc plates.  It’s been waiting for me to do something with it for over two years now. These plates are supposed to have a limited life but this one seems to be just fine.

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Polymer plate and “Greetings” set in 12pt Canterbury

The polymer plate has to be set on a block to achieve type high and then locked up in the chase with the type.  I don’t really intend to do much printing with the Adana because to make it viable you need lots and lots of type, spacers, furniture and patience. I have so little type that I can only do one word at a time.. two if they are short!  So the output will be limited. I had in mind a few  “Greetings” cards with Christmas in mind too, so I did manage the word “Greetings” set in 12pt Canterbury caps. Thank god there were two capital Es.

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It is so many years since I used an Adana but it does all come back to you, Setting up the chase is not difficult, inking up is not difficult, but the make ready and packing is not so easy.

The results are mixed, and depend so much on which paper, how much ink, pressure, packing etc etc. I may get a dozen or so reasonable cards.

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Some prints and the chase.

Using the Adana is fun and very absorbing because you think the next print will be the best.. then it isn’t, then you try again and on and on. In my hands the results are far from perfect but do have that pleasing printy look. The economics definitely don’t add up but these will be unique and hand printed cards. ( I fully intend to let the recipients know so they treasure them! )

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I printed this one on some heavier weight paper which has given a rather nice snow effect. You may think that bees, citrus flowers and snow don’t go well together but it does snow in citrus growing areas, the citrus were in flower in December in Leu Gardens and of course in Florida the honey bees never stop.

The resulting hard won prints are an odd mixture, being hand printed from a machine made plate, made from a digital image, made from a hand drawn scraperboard. But I can definitely say “Hand Printed”.

Would it be quicker, easier and cheaper to print direct from the computer with an inkjet printer? Yes indeed..but where is the fun, blood, sweat and tears in that?

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Cutting Away

I made another version of the face, to see how it looks as I cut away bit by bit. This time I used the easycut rubbery stuff which I am not too fond of but I used the back of  an old print, so It is useful from that point of view.

I drew straight onto the rubber with a felt pen, aiming for more of a line effect this time using broad cutters.

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The two blocks inked up, one on the left easycut, one on the right viynl.

Cutting Away
A series of prints cutting the block more each time, printing as I go.

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Printing With Paper Additions
Once you have your block you can print it in any colour, on almost anything and add different papers and materials.

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The red paper additions here are too dark and perhaps interfere with how you read the image.. sometimes that is useful and it was worth a go.

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Printed on some old sheet music with red strips which I then took off. They left gaps which changed the image again.

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Printed with an additional piece of torn grey paper.

The possibilities are endless!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Sketch Portrait to Print

I made a few sketches of heads last week. I find them fascinating because they are not “portraits” of anyone in particular so they have their own character.

I found this one interesting and wanted to make a print, my first go at a human head. It fits in with some work I am considering, which will return me to my roots, to stories and things I really want to explore.

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I made a couple of quick black and white versions based on the sketch, to try and consider the lights and darks.

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You could spend hours making decisions about what to cut and what not to cut. It’s a cause for anxiety because once you have cut away there is no going back. I am finding the best thing is just to get on with it and see what emerges. It can lead you into something quite different.

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A couple of first proofs

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First proof of Print 6 x 6 inches.

I am constantly surprised by the results.I may cut away more and more, printing as I go,  to see what happens and how it changes. It’s fascinating… and a bit obsessive!

Friday, November 15, 2013

Thoughts and Trials

I have been thinking about the small bee book and how I might go about it.

I’m making notes at the moment and putting together a couple of small dummy books and a rough storyboard. I used the original “Waving Bee” lino cuts to trial some papers and mock up some quick covers and ideas.

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I love making dummy books.
I have made books since I was a child when I used to make exciting story books: written and illustrated  by myself  of course. They were read to teddy, the toy farm animals and Matty my toy dog . I am sure they were riveted.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A Bumble Bee for John Clare

The first proofs of this little bee lino cut. I am planning a series of bees for one of my favourite poets John Clare.

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This is a first proof and the block needs some work, but it is always an “interesting” moment.Usually accompanied by “ Ah.. Ok .. well maybe..”

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 A Bumble Bee Amongst the Early Willows   Sepia waterbased ink. Image size 4.75 x 4.75 inches.

If things go according to plan there will be a small booklet of images accompanied with text. However it involves a bit of work on the Adana which is a whole different thing.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Berry Prints : Small Worlds

A few more prints of the berry.The final colours, numbers 3 and 4.  This final cut was based on my Sloe Globe drawings over at Pencilandleaf . The patterns on the sloes fascinate me. I have only added the coloured stalk to 2 of them so far. I have tried to be methodical and disciplined with these prints and almost all of them have worked OK.

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Looking at them now there are quite a few things I would change. But I am rather pleased that the registration system worked Ok. The mask to isolate the sphere worked too but was a bit fiddly.. They vary in colour as I tried different combination of tones and the print quality varies so much with different papers and different inking. It is very interesting and a good learning process.
I think I could have achieved more translucence with oil colours and a medium but these are fine for now. I resisted the temptation to paint the stalks in.  I just inked up a little of the block at the base.

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More berries with the cut-away print in the middle there. I made 12 prints. If I had taken a bit more care they would all have been OK. Lessons learnt.

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Blue and Red Berry Worlds, 4 & 5 colour reduction print. Image 6 x6 inches

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Berry Print: Stage 2

For the second colour of the blue berry print I lightly inked up the plate to get a patchy dusty look of a sloe. It worked quite well/

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Second colour on blue

I am just not sure how the red berry will work or how dull the colours may become with overprinting. I am just using waterbased cheap “inks” which are really an acrylic I think but with an added retarding agent. They are a bit dull which is fine for the blue but not so good for the red. So I have varied the second colour from a yellow to an orange.

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Second colour on yellow.

OK so far and the registration plate seems to be working.I am dithering about an intermediate colour before the final one…. Unsure unsure..

I decided on an intermediate colour for the red berries in the hopes of getting some depth of colour. To keep the background from printing I cut a mask. Fiddly but worth it and probably quicker than cutting all the back ground away.

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Third colour on yellow.

I am learning so much with these simple exercises . I think with printmaking as with most other skills you have to keep on doing it to get a feel for the inks, the paper, the press etc. There are many many variables.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

First Steps of Vinyl Berry Print

Yesterday I was painting berries and thought a simple lino cut of a berry would be a good subject to try on a piece of vinyl I have. It will also be good practice for reduction printing, which involves getting some sort of registration sorted out and for trying some more papers.

There was not much drawing involved so I drew directly on to the vinyl and cut the first highlights.

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Block and a first proof taken.

They are on my rough-and-ready registration plate, made with bits of card on a piece of hardboard. It’s adapted from the plate I used for the big bees. It’s not wildly accurate but will do for now.

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Some prints of the twelve I made of the first plate, in two different colourways.

It’s impossible to know how many you may need to get just one precious perfect completed print. Print more than you think you will need…lots more.  Once you start to cut the plate again there is no going back.

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More vinyl cut away for the second colour. It’s slippery. My finger tips are getting progressively more shredded,  there is blood everywhere..but I guess I will learn!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

First Jigsaw Print

I have read about jigsaw prints
It is a simple way of printing two colours in one go, by cutting up the plate and inking the pieces separately. I had cut this little bird using the rubbery easycut stuff some time ago and taken a proof in black, but there were so many mistakes I had rather abandoned  it. But rather than cut a new block it seemed a good candidate for trying a jigsaw print.

So I cut the block into 3 pieces to roughly isolate the bird  from  the background.

 

Although it’s the easycut rubbery stuff it is not that easy to cut in two and I can see that one disadvantage of this sort of block is that it can ( and does) stretch quite easily.

The blocks are then inked up in different colours, re-assembled and printed.

 
Re-assembled block ready to print.

Some trials on different papers with different colours.

I am not very keen on the easycut block. I found when cutting the original image that the tools slipped often and  I didn’t seem to have much control..but then this could well be  (ie probably was) operator error :). I have seen lovely things made using it, so I will persevere.

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Greedy Starlings… very rough jigsaw print. Image 5 x 4 inches

I wanted to print a pale colour onto Kraft paper  but this was not very successful and I realise I will have to look at more opaque inks. Probably better quality ones. Also I doubt the lightfastness of Kraft. Not that is matters at the moment, as I am just experimenting but sod’ s law guarantees I will print my best image on something that will fade.

It was interesting to see these results.  I liked the technique and the image, just not the execution, neither the cutting nor the printing,  so l’ll probably try another plate.

I was thinking about all-over patterns at the time and it was based on the busy spotty starlings who hoover up ALL the mealworms and grains that we scatter on the paving by the kitchen. We are rather fond of them.. greedy or not.