A printmakers day
general, my art, printmakers :: posted on September 8th, 2008
When I head off to uni to work for the day the usual comment is - ‘just going in to do some printing’ which is probably an understatement. So I thought I would a visual list of an average day!
The quality of these images is not so great as I was caught out without my camera, so the mobile phone got a workout! The day started with some plate preparation with aquatint. I used spray paint for this which works ok but is not as fine and controlled as the rosin aquatint which is the traditional method.
Then I moved onto the lithograph stones, and first up was a wash out with white spirits for a new image.
Then the rolling up begins, following an application of bitumen that is, and the image needs about ten layers to build up the ink at this point of its life.
The image is then ready to etch once it has dried (as the stone is quite wet after the rolling process which is alternated with being wiped with a wet sponge), so it is on to another job while it dries.
I have another stone on the go that has been waiting for some detail to be added, so that is the next job.Here I am applying rubbing ink which works as it sounds - by rubbing a soft ink onto the stone. My fingers get quite sore after an hour of this!
A wash is also added to the stone in some areas.
So now with two stones waiting to be dry enough to apply an etch, there is time to grind off the third stone, and the biggest, ready for its next image. This takes nearly an hour as it is uneven and needs some extra grinding on one end to try to level it up a bit. Printing an uneven stone gives me heart flutters as you need extra pressure to take up the lower end and the sound of a stone cracking - and they go off with an explosive bang when they crack - is not a sound I want to hear!
Finally I can apply the rosin, talc and gum solution to the stones with images. This needs to sit overnight before they can be printed.
And that was before lunch! So the next time your printmaker buddy comes home and says - ‘I’m pooped’ - you know they have been very busy indeed!
