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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Drypoint Printing Workshop


I have recently completed a two-weekend Drypoint Printing workshop with Jenny Robinson in her studio at Hunters Point in San Francisco.
It was hard work and frustrating at first. When I paint I respond to each layer of paint previously applied and move forwards to the eventual image. With drypoint printing it is necessary to have a clear view of the final image at the beginning of the process in order to plan the different plates of color which will be printed first. Like thinking backwards - it made my head hurt!
By the second weekend I was getting the hang of it and having some fun, aided and abetted by my fellow students and Jenny's wicked sense of humor.

Here is the story of one of my prints:


First I chose an image - a drawing/collage of dye vats in the tanneries at Fes.


Then I etched a line drawing of that image into treated illustration board, pulling off the surface in areas where I needed dense shadow. I used charcoal to rub into the board as I worked to show me how the drawing was developing.
The board then gets inked up before printing......


The first drypoint print, no color underneath.


Drypoint print over two different color drops - the Yellow and the colored dye areas. The Yellow layer was still sticky when I printed the drypoint so the Black ink didn't stick. An interesting mistake. 


Drypoint print over the ghost print of the colored "blobs".


Drypoint print over yet another ghost print from the "blobs" - the color is barely discernible.


Drypoint print with layer of "Faux Chine Colle" over. This tints the white areas enough to make them different from the surrounding paper and gives an aged look.

All the prints are 8" x 8" on Rives BFK 140lb paper.







1 comment:

  1. I really loved this post - it's inspiring to see an artist constantly experimenting in new mediums! Even the "interesting mistake" looks really cool.

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