Collagraphs 2012
Collagraphs 2011
Collagraphs - October '10
Collagraphs - September '10
Once again I have been working on small scale Collagraphs, 10 cm x 10 cm, mostly overprinting three images. The prints done at FDPW use oil based inks with extender to aid translucency, those in my home studio use water based inks. I decided to print a few showing the individual plates on a single sheet. I started by printing them with a light yellow, then overprinting with a darker colour. The sixth print (with the twelve plates) I added a linoprint of one of my dogs - the photograph could be better. I was pleased with the look of them and will continue to develop both the plates and the idea.
Multiplate Collagraphs
I have recently been working with small plates (10 x 10cm) and overprinting them with the aid of a registration plate. I have tried them with both waterbased inks and oil, with extender added for transluscence to allow the colours to build up without covering too much of the detail.
Hares for March
Only a week of March left, but I started working on turning some drawings of hares from my sketchbooks into Collagraphs. The same format as the mice, the plates were 2 mm MDF sheets measuring 17 x 20 cm. I painted on two coats of Hard Ground as a base to work the image on, then used a combination of Modelling Paste, Pastelground and Stop Out for the hares. Underneath I have posted the first proofs of the two plates. A good start, but as always, a deal of work still to be done to achieve a result I'm happy with.
New methods with Collagraphs
Over the last few weeks I have been introduced to the Lascaux range of polymer printmaking products by Carol Robertson and Robert Adam. Many of the technicalities have as yet escaped me, but I have made a couple of Collagraphs and today (Tuesday) I printed them for the first time. I was very pleasantly surprised by the results, especially by the amount of detail recorded by the soft ground. The "Dog and Feathers" was done on the back of an old steel etching plate, the abstract on a piece of MDF. Everyone at the studio was impressed by the range of marks, textures and tones they reproduced. The beauty of using old (or indeed new) etching plates is that once you have printed your edition, the image can be cleaned off and the plate re-used. They were printed using water based inks.
Thursday. Today I "edited" then printed the two plates again using oil based inks. No photos as yet as I left them drying in the Workshop. I think they have a different "feel" than the waterbased prints, though printing them on fairly thin Japanese cream paper doubtless altered their look.
Thursday. Today I "edited" then printed the two plates again using oil based inks. No photos as yet as I left them drying in the Workshop. I think they have a different "feel" than the waterbased prints, though printing them on fairly thin Japanese cream paper doubtless altered their look.
2009 Collagraphs
A selection of collagraphs using card, various papers, lace, cloth and organic materials