Showing posts with label Mezzotint. Spurn Head.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mezzotint. Spurn Head.. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 February 2017
Ready to Edition
After a couple more weeks working on the mezzotint plate it is now at a stage where it is ready to edition.
Friday, 2 January 2015
Intaglio Printing
Way back in mid summer I posted a couple of images of a proof of a Mezzotint that I had been working on. Since then things had gone a bit quite on this topic, not because I had given up on it and sold the plate off for scrap. But not having anything to print it on I had worked the plate as far as I could and then put it to one side. However, having treated myself this Christmas to a small Hawthorn etching press I've spent the last few days playing around with it.
Bamburgh Castle from the breakwater at Seahouses.
Drypoint
152mm x 203mm
It took a bit of experimenting to get the pressure right and my inking technique was a bit rusty but after a while I got the hang of it so then I inked up the Mezzotint.
Now there is a lot that is not right with this, but as a first go at a technique that I had never done before I wasn't expecting to end up with a saleable print. It is however a better print than my first reduction linocut was. I have overworked a few areas on the wall and the hillside on the right. The pressure was a bit light and parts of the foreground are a bit vague with no definition. On the positive side the black areas are ok which means that I must have rocked the plate correctly in the first place - I wasn't sure that I had done that well enough and there is a feeling of depth to the print which I was trying to get. As a trial print I was satisfied with the outcome so I inked up a second plate that I had worked on.
This first proof came out much better than I expected. The pressure on the press again was too light and the plate needed more work on it so 5 more proofs later and I ended up with something like I had intended.
As I haven't done any intaglio printing since I was at college (around 30 years ago), and I haven't had any experience of working on a mezzotint at all. I started off with a quick drypoint to get used to the press and to try and remember how to ink and wipe a plate (You Tube came in handy for this).
Bamburgh Castle from the breakwater at Seahouses.
Drypoint
152mm x 203mm
It took a bit of experimenting to get the pressure right and my inking technique was a bit rusty but after a while I got the hang of it so then I inked up the Mezzotint.
Now there is a lot that is not right with this, but as a first go at a technique that I had never done before I wasn't expecting to end up with a saleable print. It is however a better print than my first reduction linocut was. I have overworked a few areas on the wall and the hillside on the right. The pressure was a bit light and parts of the foreground are a bit vague with no definition. On the positive side the black areas are ok which means that I must have rocked the plate correctly in the first place - I wasn't sure that I had done that well enough and there is a feeling of depth to the print which I was trying to get. As a trial print I was satisfied with the outcome so I inked up a second plate that I had worked on.
This first proof came out much better than I expected. The pressure on the press again was too light and the plate needed more work on it so 5 more proofs later and I ended up with something like I had intended.
This is Spurn Point Lighthouse at the mouth of the Humber.
Just need to print the edition now.
Happy New Year.
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