Studio Blog
I never planned on becoming a printmaker.
The first time I tried printmaking, I didn’t like it!
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Creating the Red Wattlebird Etching - Part 5 - Inking Up The Plate In Multiple Colours And Editioning
This is the plate finally finished so now I'm going to ink it up and edition it. Remember that each time I ink up the plate it'll only give me one print. The inking up process has to be repeated for each print in the edition. To see the process of making the plate please see my previous blog posts. I have all my inks mixed up and ready on the glass top table. I start by applying the ink onto the surface of the plate. The ink is a water soluble oil based printmaking ink. I use Caligo Safe Wash. I apply it with a rubber tool called a kidney, it's actually a ceramics tool but works very well for ink application. I then rub the ink into all the lines using a loosely woven cloth called tarlatan, rubbing in small circles, then gradually I wipe off the excess ink, leaving the ink just in the lines. It's good seeing the image emerge from the inky darkness! I then add other colours straight onto the plate. This process is called a la poupee or dolly printing. It is an alternative to making multiple plates and inking each in a different colour to be printed on top of each other. A la poupee technique is a faster process, but sometimes the colours don't come out as vivid as a multi plate etching due to each added colour retaining a bit of the residue of the initial inked up colour. But I find it works well for my bird etchings. Below I add the yellow of the belly, I blend it into the brown underneath. I then add a little black ink to the tarlatan (or in this case I'm using cheescloth.) Just a smidge of ink, not too much.  ...and gently blend it into the wing area.... ... and on the eye. Then using an (ECO FRIENDLY!) cotton bud I apply red ink to the red wattles. I gently blend the red ink in with the cheesecloth, then with the clean end of the cotton bud I wipe away all the ink in the areas I want really white. ...including the striated markings on the breast and belly... ...and on the end of the tail feathers. Finally, to give the bird that little glint in the eye, I use a sharpened stick (for maximum accuracy) and wipe the glint clean of ink. Now it's time to get the cotton rag paper out of the water bath. It's been soaking for anywhere from 5-10 mins to a couple of days (yes I forget that I've got paper in the bath sometimes.) The wet paper gets blotted between newsprint paper so it is only damp with no glistening water on its surface. and it gets brought over to the press bed. For these larger prints I like to put the paper in place first then move the press bed a little trapping the edge of the paper under the roller. This ensures the paper stays in place while I lift it up and place the inked up plate in the correct position. The plate and the paper then get the press blankets laid on top and everything it rolled through the roller. The roller is adjusted so it is very tight and the paper and plate are put under a lot of pressure as they are rolled through. Then the exciting part! As you lift the paper you see that the ink has been transfered from the plate onto the paper. You can even see where the damp paper has embossed around the plate. And then the whole process is done all over again and again and again, in this case 16 times (actually 17 because the artist is allowed to keep one as an AP - Artist Print) All the prints then go into drying boards with weights on top so the paper dries nice and flat. They stay in the boards for about 4 days. I then number the prints, title them and sign them and make them available for sale!
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Creating The Red Wattlebird Etching - Part 4 - Working More Into The Plate and 2nd Proof
Using the first proof (see previous blog post) as a reference I can now see where the plate needs more work done to it. I use a drypoint etching needle to make more scratched lines in the plate. In some areas I use a folded up piece of sandpaper to create lines. I rip off a small square... and fold it over a few times. The folding gives a nice edge with which to draw. I inked the plate up for its 2nd proofing and printed it. This time I inked it up in sepia browns and added extra colours to the plate (I will show this inking up process in my next blog post.) You can see in the image below the progression of the plate. The difference between the 1st and 2nd proof. I can still see areas I need to work more into the image, but I'm really enjoying the mark making process in this piece.  Below is a close up of the how the different marks appear when printed. The fat white streaks are where the PVA glue protected the plate from the spitbite acid. The thinner white streaks on the right hand side are burnisher marks made in the acid bitten areas. The fainter lines within the yellow area are made with the folded sandpaper I will keep working more into this plate and in my next blog post I will show how I ink it up in multiple colours and print it as part of an edition.Â
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Creating the Red Wattlebird Etching - Part 3 - Proofing The Plate
Proofing the plate, first glimpse.
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Creating the Red Wattlebird Etching - Part 2 - Making The Plate
Part 2 - Making the Plate After I've got the initial image outline sketched onto the aluminium plate I then have to start making the marks, the scratches, the roughed up areas of the plate. All the places where I've un-smoothed the surface of the metal will hold ink and create lines and tone when printed. Working from a photograph I took of a red wattlebird that I'd met in Chiltern, Victoria, late last year, I used a waterproof white pencil to get the initial image onto the plate (See blog post Part 1.) I wanted to include some areas of tone in this piece- to get that darker body of the bird with the white striated marks down its breast and belly. To do this I chose to have a play with spit bite. Spit bite is a technique using acid painted on the surface of the plate in specific areas. You'll find out why it's called spit bite soon! To create the white striated streaks I needed to protect the metal from the acid so I painted PVA glue onto the plate and hoped that it would work! I then brought everything outside while I dealt with the acid part. The acid I used on the aluminium is copper sulphate which is a much safer alternative to traditional acid etching and works well with aluminium. I'm no expert when it comes to using acid as I normally stick to dry point, but I was up for some experimenting for this plate! Now here's where the spit in spit bite comes in and therefore where it gets a bit yuk (although I'm not too put off by this centuries old technique!) To ensure the applied acid sits evenly and doesn't creep into areas where you don't want it you first paint saliva onto the desired areas of your plate. Above, you can see how I've painted the spit over the body of the bird. I then start painting copper sulphate solution in the same areas and watch as the acid turns the metal dark in the areas it is eating the surface. I keep adding more acid over a 10 minute period. Painting it thicker in area I want darker and leaving areas I want lighter with less. After the 10 mins I rinse everything off with water and peel off the PVA glue areas. Some of the bits are easier to peel or scrape off than others and some streaks worked better than others. But I don't mind it not being too exact, it's all part of the process! Now I need to start scratching the lines. I've used various things to make the rest of the marks on the plate. I mainly use a drypoint etching needle to scratch the lines straight in, like drawing. But in other areas I've used bits of sandpaper, folded up to create an edge and drawn lines with that. In some areas I've used a burnisher over the acid bitten areas and these lines show up light over dark. There's quite a variety of marks on this plate! Before I complete this plate I want to see what all of these marks look like so far when inked up and printed. So I'm going to pause the process for now and proof the plate. Proofing is when you ink up the plate and print it to see how the plate looks. It helps the printmaker see how to proceed with making the plate, what's working, where to work more into the plate etc. See blog post Part 3 - Proofing the Plate.  You can also watch videos of all these processes on my instagram - HERE.
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Creating the Red Wattlebird Drypoint Etching - Part 1 - Getting the Image Onto The Plate
Adventures in printmaking. Creating the Red Wattlebird drypoint etching. Part 1.
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5 Ways With Washi: Sneak Peeks Of My New Washi Designs!
***Includes sneak peeks of my new washi designs*** Washi tape might be small, but it’s full of creative possibilities. From gift wrapping and journaling to wall décor and keeping the kids entertained. I’ve shared five of my favourite ways to use this cheerful little tape— I think you’ll love it too.
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