Sunday, 27 March 2016
Saturday, 5 March 2016
3rd/4th March - LEICESTER PRINTWORKSHOP SMALL PRINT INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Started a new small stone -with a view to possibly entering it into the Leicester Print workshop Small Print International . This competition invites entries of prints that have an image area of less than 100cm2 printed on paper less than 500cm2. (Further details can be found at www.leicesterprintworkshop.com)
I thought I'd have a go at submitting a stone lithograph - (which could be problematic on two counts)
1. The deadline is in less than 3 weeks time (!)
2. I am used to working on quite a large scale with the stone lithographs and so to work to such a small size will be challenging to say the least - (however after nearly a year of trying to get my head round stone lithography I am used to a challenge...!)
I decided to use one of the small graining stones that we use to clean off the images from the larger stones.
I used litho ink diluted with turps for the dense black areas - rubbing block and litho crayons for the mid tone areas. The speckled areas were created by dusting shavings from a sharpened litho crayon on to the stone then warming the area with a hair dryer and burnishing them with the back of a spoon under newsprint - not sure how they will print!
Here's where Im up to with it so far - (still got some more fine lines and detail to add in yet).
Started a new small stone -with a view to possibly entering it into the Leicester Print workshop Small Print International . This competition invites entries of prints that have an image area of less than 100cm2 printed on paper less than 500cm2. (Further details can be found at www.leicesterprintworkshop.com)
I thought I'd have a go at submitting a stone lithograph - (which could be problematic on two counts)
1. The deadline is in less than 3 weeks time (!)
2. I am used to working on quite a large scale with the stone lithographs and so to work to such a small size will be challenging to say the least - (however after nearly a year of trying to get my head round stone lithography I am used to a challenge...!)
I decided to use one of the small graining stones that we use to clean off the images from the larger stones.
I used litho ink diluted with turps for the dense black areas - rubbing block and litho crayons for the mid tone areas. The speckled areas were created by dusting shavings from a sharpened litho crayon on to the stone then warming the area with a hair dryer and burnishing them with the back of a spoon under newsprint - not sure how they will print!
Here's where Im up to with it so far - (still got some more fine lines and detail to add in yet).
25th/26th February
Took several proofs from the second stone (see below)
on to the prints from the first stone (see below) that I had made on Fabriano Rosepina paper
The idea being that the resulting print would give a greater depth of tone and different inking methods -that wouldnt have been able to have been achieved by using just one stone
I tried to register the prints from the first stone on the second stone - but frustratingly I hadnt given myself much leeway and they were slightly out ..... - Serena (my tutor) showed a way of making registration more accurate. She turned one of the prints overleaf and placed it on a light box - a vertical line from the print where the mis registration was consistently occurring was registered in pencil on the back of the print.
On the stone the same vertical line was found on the image and a heavy ruler laid on the inked stone - (newsprint was placed on the stone first so that the print didnt pick up any miscellaneous ink as it was orientated.) The line that had been drawn on the back of the print was placed so that it was in line with the ruler on the stone - the centre lines were then located on the print and the stone -and the print taken using velvet noir and burnt umber ink - it was still slightly out !! -
Serena suggested we tried another means of registering - this involved taking the first print and the cad foil that we used for registration and making sure they were lined up - scalpel cuts were made in the print where the centre lines corresponded with the cad foil - The worse areas of mis- registration were in the concrete pillar areas so thin strips of tissue paper were also cut and stuck to the prints before the second print was taken as a mask - this seemed to work well!
Heres one of the more successful prints (I am not going to show some of the others !)
Serena also suggested softly deleting some of the areas that we were having problems with with pumice and wet and dry paper. This was done in the areas of the white columns of the print-(see below) the idea being that I would to print up again at a later date to see if things improved
Took several proofs from the second stone (see below)
on to the prints from the first stone (see below) that I had made on Fabriano Rosepina paper
The idea being that the resulting print would give a greater depth of tone and different inking methods -that wouldnt have been able to have been achieved by using just one stone
I tried to register the prints from the first stone on the second stone - but frustratingly I hadnt given myself much leeway and they were slightly out ..... - Serena (my tutor) showed a way of making registration more accurate. She turned one of the prints overleaf and placed it on a light box - a vertical line from the print where the mis registration was consistently occurring was registered in pencil on the back of the print.
On the stone the same vertical line was found on the image and a heavy ruler laid on the inked stone - (newsprint was placed on the stone first so that the print didnt pick up any miscellaneous ink as it was orientated.) The line that had been drawn on the back of the print was placed so that it was in line with the ruler on the stone - the centre lines were then located on the print and the stone -and the print taken using velvet noir and burnt umber ink - it was still slightly out !! -
Serena suggested we tried another means of registering - this involved taking the first print and the cad foil that we used for registration and making sure they were lined up - scalpel cuts were made in the print where the centre lines corresponded with the cad foil - The worse areas of mis- registration were in the concrete pillar areas so thin strips of tissue paper were also cut and stuck to the prints before the second print was taken as a mask - this seemed to work well!
Heres one of the more successful prints (I am not going to show some of the others !)
Serena also suggested softly deleting some of the areas that we were having problems with with pumice and wet and dry paper. This was done in the areas of the white columns of the print-(see below) the idea being that I would to print up again at a later date to see if things improved
Friday, 4 March 2016
17th / 18th February 2016
MORE PROOFING AND HOME MADE STARCH PASTE FOR COLLAGING PRINTS
More proofs were taken from the first stone using Non Drying black ink on Fabriano Rosepina paper so that I would have more prints to experiment registration with! I had previously exhausted my supply of prints that I had originally taken with trying to register the second stone last week!
The edges of the print and the concrete tile were drawn on a piece of cadfoil to position them and then the print was placed image downwards on the cadfoil and the glue paste brushed over the surface of the print. Care was taken that there were no creases or air bubbles. It was left a few minutes to stretch and relax. The excess glue around the edges was then brushed off and the print placed on the concrete tile in the correct position. The cad foil was removed and the print was covered with a thin layer of tissue and stippled with a stiff brush to ensure adequate adhesion (especially on edeges and corners!)
MORE PROOFING AND HOME MADE STARCH PASTE FOR COLLAGING PRINTS
More proofs were taken from the first stone using Non Drying black ink on Fabriano Rosepina paper so that I would have more prints to experiment registration with! I had previously exhausted my supply of prints that I had originally taken with trying to register the second stone last week!
I also took 6 prints of the small stone shown below using the same ink on Japanese paper
I had an idea to try and stick these small prints on to some concrete slabs that I had made earlier (this may sound a bit random but my painting practice involves painting on similar slabs of concrete and I have an exhibition coming up soon and thought this might be a good way of displaying paintings and prints together).
Serena my tutor showed me a method of making a glue paste to achieve this out of flour and water.
One teaspoon of flour was mixed with a small amount of water to make a smooth lump free slurry. A small amount of boiling water (about an inch in the jug) was added which thickened the mix. Cold water was then added to thin the glue so it became the same consistency as milk.
The edges of the print and the concrete tile were drawn on a piece of cadfoil to position them and then the print was placed image downwards on the cadfoil and the glue paste brushed over the surface of the print. Care was taken that there were no creases or air bubbles. It was left a few minutes to stretch and relax. The excess glue around the edges was then brushed off and the print placed on the concrete tile in the correct position. The cad foil was removed and the print was covered with a thin layer of tissue and stippled with a stiff brush to ensure adequate adhesion (especially on edeges and corners!)
The stone was left to dry completely and then the print surface was sealed and protected with Aerosol spray matt varnish (or PVA)
Excess paper around the edge of the concrete tile (see above) was removed with sharp scalpel.
Excess paper around the edge of the concrete tile (see above) was removed with sharp scalpel.
Heres the finished print stuck on to the concrete - because the Japanese paper is so thin some of the surface texture of the concrete was visible through the paper.
10th/ 11th Feb 2016 - PROOFING AND REGISTERING
Worked on second stone (above) to proof and then to try and register on the prints already taken from the first stone. A mixture of phthalo blue litho ink and velvet noir ink was mixed but was a bit green - Added some cobalt blue -now a bit grey !!- The image took lots of proofing to come up (15 proofs!)
Registered prints initially using acetate (cadfoil) template and external registration marks made on blocks of wood wedging my stone on the bed.
Printed the stone above onto one of the first newsprint prints - Serena had a novel way of 'cheats registering' by cutting 4 triangles on the back of the print in key positions so we could position it accurately on the stone (see below)
The cut triangles were unnoticable when the stone was printed due to the pressure exerted from the press.
The first print on newsprint registered quite well using this method but the ink was a bit grey still. Added more velvet noir and burnt umber litho ink to warm it up a bit . Printed onto both kitchen paper and newsprint prints. More accurate registration was achieved with prints on newsprint as I didn't have to dampen it (so potentially no shrinkage) I largely used the acetate template to register which seemed to work quite well.
Printed on top of some of the watercolour paper prints from the first stone -however it was much more difficult to get tight registration on these ... !!
Heres one of the more successfully registered prints
The stone was closed by dusting ink with French Chalk - then rolling over with Non Drying Black Ink , French Chalking again and then a thin layer of Gum Arabic solution was placed.
Worked on second stone (above) to proof and then to try and register on the prints already taken from the first stone. A mixture of phthalo blue litho ink and velvet noir ink was mixed but was a bit green - Added some cobalt blue -now a bit grey !!- The image took lots of proofing to come up (15 proofs!)
Registered prints initially using acetate (cadfoil) template and external registration marks made on blocks of wood wedging my stone on the bed.
Printed the stone above onto one of the first newsprint prints - Serena had a novel way of 'cheats registering' by cutting 4 triangles on the back of the print in key positions so we could position it accurately on the stone (see below)
The cut triangles were unnoticable when the stone was printed due to the pressure exerted from the press.
The first print on newsprint registered quite well using this method but the ink was a bit grey still. Added more velvet noir and burnt umber litho ink to warm it up a bit . Printed onto both kitchen paper and newsprint prints. More accurate registration was achieved with prints on newsprint as I didn't have to dampen it (so potentially no shrinkage) I largely used the acetate template to register which seemed to work quite well.
Printed on top of some of the watercolour paper prints from the first stone -however it was much more difficult to get tight registration on these ... !!
Heres one of the more successfully registered prints
The stone was closed by dusting ink with French Chalk - then rolling over with Non Drying Black Ink , French Chalking again and then a thin layer of Gum Arabic solution was placed.
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