Materials Archives - Page 3 of 8 - The Curious Printmaker

Using mica for printmaking

It is a well known fact that we humans love shiny things. Mica has provided us with glitz since...

Cast Latex Printing Plates

Posted by Emily Harvey | Experiments, Materials

This is the best thing I have found so far for taking impressions of textures from 3d objects and then printing them directly. Latex picks up precise fine details, moulds round contoured shapes and stretches out flat. The thin rubber plate takes intaglio and relief ink and you can print it with or without a press.

Improve your collagraph prints with white ink

Posted by Emily | Collagraphs, Inks, Techniques

White ink has an interesting effect on your collagraph prints
It is hard to say exactly what has happened, but there is a distinct and positive improvement in the print, a bit like the way someone looks when they come back from holiday. Your print has more substance, more energy, and more clarity.

Cleaning up printmaking inks

Posted by Emily | Inks, Materials

I think my first question ‘why clean up?’ is the wrong one to be asking. Cleaning up is an integral part of the printmaking process and one we should embrace in the manner of the Zen monks. It clears your mind after a printmaking session, providing a pause to your rhythm of work. If you spend time developing a cleaning up routine that suits you, the ritual soon becomes part of your creative practice.
A meditative cleaning up process helps you to love your tools and care for your studio space, leaving it ready to begin your next bout of creative activity.