A Little Master Class!
Oooh. I am really liking this. Bearing in mind that these are not finished prints but just experiments at this current time, just to show the possibilities.
I went on a trip last week to work in Dunfermline Print Studio, which is a lovely, cosy place, to meet up with printmakers Aine Scannell and her friend Tatiana. It was Aine who introduced me to this wonderful easy process.
I love the simplicity and potential for my work this offers.....here is the process in a nutshell.
- Make a plate out of mount card/matt board the size of your print as you would for a collagraph print. I PVA'd and varnished my plate with Lascaux Hard Ground, you could use shellac. Leave overnight to cure.
- Cut out some shapes in mount card /matt board (These will appear on your print as more dense/opaque than the background.) You can varnish these if you want to use them repeatedly as they can get ink on them.
- Lay these shapes on your press bed. I have marked where the edges of my plate will be with blue tape so I have reference and can place the shapes where I want them to appear in my print.
- Using ink that has been modified with transparent ink/extender, ink up your plate. This plate has been used a few times,the white mark is from an earlier embossment. Then lay your inked up plate ink side facing upwards on top of the card shapes like so.
- The paper is then placed on top. I used the lovely cheap Chinese paper on a roll from China Town in Manchester which is quite good for test prints of this kind.
- And then roll through the press
Another print with different shapes added under it
And without moving plate having taken off the first print pop another sheet of paper on the plate and roll through again.
I use quite a lot of lace and wallpaper in my work so I tried using a piece of lace which I first PVA'd and varnished to give it some welly under the mount card. This is the initial print. I can see now why it is called diffused relief, as this lace looks very diffused!!!
and this is the ghost print
I am looking forward to playing with this process using masks to make further layers
And a diffused relief print that Aine made on the same day, the polar bear shapes having been cut out and used in the same way as described above.
2 comments:
Beautifully explained Sue - I look forward to a further exploration of this technique. Best wishes for your various exploits - these next few weeks.
Aine
Hi there Sue
Its Sunday night, 2nd December 2018
and I am having my second go at this process, since that day we spent together doing this. It definitely makes a difference using any kind of "Washi" paper. Like you I am using Hosho or 'rice paper' for the current warm up tests I am doing.
Coincidentally I HAVE DONE this process onto Somerset or possibly Fabriano ETCHING PAPER, using oil based ink with extender in .....and it worked really beautifully............that was ages ago - I did about 3 proofs from the same "key plate" (item that is placed on the press bed, under the back-side, of the 'inked-up' plate................I have only finalised one of those. I have another to actually run through the press having decided the plate and the colour. It's just a question of actually doing it. So many projects to complete - you know how it is.!!!
Anyway I am really glad that you blogged this explanation here as I was getting mixed up as to the order (i.e., A then B then C) of the 3 elements ...........
HOWEVER I have now put a list on my 'notice board here in my studio so that I can quickly refer to it next time.
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