Tag: printmaking

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Printmaking

Recently, I have made some prints inspired by my flower paintings. They are created with the printmaking process of etching aluminum plates and printed on special printmaking paper. I will try to explain the process here:

  1. To start off, I had four plates the same size (15 x 19 cm) and prepared them by filing and beveling the edges, before covering them with B.I.G. ground * and baking them on 150°C for 6 minutes.
  2. I borrowed an etching needle and used it to carve into the plate. At this stage, it is important to think about the fact that everything you carve will be mirrored in the final print.
  3. After creating the image, the back of the plates was covered with tape for protection and they were etched in a mix of salt and copper sulphate.
  4. The remaining ground had to be removed and then I could start actually printing the plates.
  5. I printed the plates with black etching ink on Hahnemühle and white and satin Somerset paper.

*  B.I.G ground is a unique printmaking ground created as a safer alternative by our printmaking teacher Andrew Baldwin.

You can find information about the ground here:
http://www.printmakingstudio.co.uk/the-etching-ground/

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Stone Litography

This semester I have had printmaking along with painting and here are some pictures of the processes I have learned to work with, stone lithography.

Drawing and painting on the stone.
Etching the stone.
Final print.
Image on stone.

When I started printmaking I had not heard of stone litography before, and did not know how it worked, but I really like this process now – it is basically like drawing and painting. One thing I am still not used to (and that goes for all printmaking processes) is that the image will be mirrored from the original drawing.
Stone lithography was invented in the 18th century and was the first process to make it possible to “draw” and “paint” an image onto a flat surface. The basic of what you do are:

  1. Draw on the stone with something greasy, like a litho crayon or pencil.
  2. Add a little water to the stone, so the parts of the stone that are not greasy get wet.
  3. Roll an oil-based ink onto the stone, this way the greasy parts will pick up ink.
  4. Press a piece of paper to the stone to transfer ink from the stone.

There are more steps in the process than this, but this is the easy explanation. I will post more pictures of my final prints soon.

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Print Symposium

Printmaking Residencies and International Projects

 

Early this morning, at 6 am to be exact, I had to drag myself out of bed, take a shower and ruuuuun. I was aiming to be at the School of Art at 7.10 am, I only came three minutes late (this time). Luciana and I were so lucky to get a ride with Paul Croft, one of our teachers, to Wrexham where he and four other artists gave speeches about printmaking residencies and international projects at the Coleg Cambria.

It takes two and a half hour to drive from Aberystwyth to Wrexham, so it was really nice being served fresh hot coffee/tea at the arrival.

The symposium started with an introduction and continued with the first artist talk held by Katherine Jones. She spoke about her prints, influences and the different residencies she had taken part in. After they talk we could see her prints that she had brought in, and they were really lovely!

The next thing on the agenda was a guided tour to the printmaking studio of the college, used by the students and also the members of the Regional Print Centre. It looked like a good workplace, big enough for a number of artists to work at the same time. The tour was followed by a tasty lunch prepared by the Catering students of the college.

The second talk, Common Ground, were held by the three artists: Greg Fuller, Jason Hicklin and Tracy Hill. They talked about collaboration in their walking art project, their art practises and the three weeks they spent in Australia.

After a small coffee and tea break it was time for the third and last speech of the day, held by Croft. He told about his experiences in China, his exhibitions, collaborations, teaching and a huge portfolio project including artists from all over the world.

Thank you for an engaging, inspiring and fun day!

Links to the artists’ webpages and the Regional Print Centre:

Katherine Jones

Greg Fuller

Jason Hicklin

Tracy Hill

Their collaboration: Common Ground

Paul Croft

Regional Print Centre