WEEK 8 - More colour experimentation, Transfer stone II and graining mini stones

20/5/15
Inked up previous landscape stone using  50% litho inks : 50% transparent litho extender - using poppy red and black inks to make a blackcurrant colour- 
5 proofs taken on newsprint and 4 on Lambeth cartridge paper -Found that ink was going in places I didn't want it to and hard to control !- Despite using a small 3 inch roller!
? Too much ink
? Stone too wet? Too much extender? 
Crimson ink more difficult to handle?! 
Inept rollig technique?!

When washed stone down and treated with nap roller and Noir A Monter ink - the ink was much easier to control...
Asked Serena Why ?!  - Probably a combination of the above factors -I could also have increased the stiffness of the ink by adding thicker litho extender.

                          Print using 50% Litho Blackcurrant  Ink :50% Extender

Then rolled on colour onto prints from transfer stone - messing about with translucent and opaque white inks and wet and dry paper - the wet paper seemed to have a big effect producing a more even, denser colour. 
Also printed different colours on top of each other to see effects and with the green ink added tack to increase stiffness - was quite difficult to roll!

                     Print of transfer papers showing various inks monoprinted on top
                                     (translucent / opaque) on damp and dry paper

Blog 21/5/15 - TRANSFER STONE II and mini litho stones

I created new transfer stone - stuck some masking tape down first  before placing the transfers to see what effects could be produced. The transfers were created by taking various rubbings onto gum arabic paper using litho crayon and oil pastel from different sources - including the concrete walls of Park Hill, wire mesh, netting, cloths and wall paper 
The stone was wetted by dabbing with sponge and then the transfer paper rubbings were placed down quickly on the wet stone then dabbed gently with damp sponge care been taken not to over wet . The transfers were covered with acetate and 7 sheets of newsprint and run twice lightly through the press.The re dampening and running twice was repeated about 4-5 times. The transfers were lifted off and the images carefully dried for about 10 minutes with a hair dryer to warm up the stone (heat softens oils in stone and facilitates absorption of grease ) The stone was then French chalked and gum Arabiced and left to rest until next week.

                            Transfer stone II with various rubbings and tapes on 


I like working on different scales and I found  2 small litho stones about 6 inches square (which were previously used to grain bigger stones) - to use to work on - Filed edges to create a bevel as Serena felt that the biggest problem in working on this small scale would be the inkling up and that the edges of the stone were likely to b a problem! 
Next week fine grain these stones and then get drawing on them!

                               Small 'rescued' litho stones being prepared to work on

13th and 14th May 2015 - ADDING COLOUR

I wanted to brighten things up a bit and introduce some colour into things!
Serena suggested experimenting with monoprints using transparent and opaque inks, creating a newsprint stencil to localise the ink and rolling the ink onto a photolitho plate then running it through the etching press. 
I monoprinted onto 3 of the previous litho prints using transparent inks first.
I added a pale grey sky, yellow and pale green/grey walls and pale blue on the left hand side of the print.
The effect was quite subtle like a diluted watercolour wash..

TRANSLUCENT INK

Paper stuck newsprint to print when removed so Serena suggested adding Vaseline to ink to reduce tack - next time!
Then decided to try opaque inks in foreground - buff pink grey used - though in fact it was a mixture of the last ink just used (translucent blue) - with opaque white /red /burnt umber
I ran it through press on dry paper (should have been wet!) -gaps produced around trees where ink had not flowed and also the ink was pretty patchy but quite nice effects produced on top of black ink - (made it a duller grey colour)

                                                         DRY PAPER - OPAQUE INK



Then tried inking with wet paper - covered more completely and to the edge of trees although I also cut a more accurate stencil which may have helped !

                                                    
                                                      WET PAPER - OPAQUE INK


Serena showed me the effects of rolling opaque and translucent inks on top of other colours
Different covering effects produced using opaque and translucent inks. Translucent more subtle (like a watercolour wash) achieved by the underlying luminosity of the white paper - the opaque ink was flatter and masked the whiteness of the paper.I wondered what effect different papers would have with the translucent ink - (area of future exploration?!) -Lambeth white paper used - very white and bright!
Then washed out stone and re inked using a  dark grey litho ink with small roller - ink came out much darker than I thought it would ? Some residual ink left from previous prints?
Added 50% extender on advice of serena but still  printing a bit dark
Next week ? Practice different colours on transfer stone using translucent and opaque inks
Print up lots of copies of landscape stone using different inks transparent and opaque - greys / browns ? Try and clean up edges a bit?!!