Here is the story of creating the 'Midwinter Solstice' print, I thought it was a good example as I started with no plan, just a spark of an experiment, and through allowing the creative process to unfold a new print was born!
When I first discovered aluminium tape I thought it would be useful, I soon realised that it is indispensable!
This post is for all tape fanatics – if you haven’t used aluminium tape yet, you are in for a treat.
Aluminium tape has a lot of potential, so to start withthis post describes a variety of ways of making plates with a raised texture; I will be moving on to cover indented plates in the next post……
Read MoreBeing rather impatient I struggle with the length of time it takes to cut detailed lino plates. Lino etching on the other hand, is relatively quick. You discover unpredictable lines and textures that are very exciting. The effect doesn’t resemble traditionally cut lino but you can add cut marks to the etched plates.
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If you like textures in printmaking you will love crackle texture. You will have seen this effect on Japanese ceramics and old paintings, it is often used to give the impression of age on painted furniture and ‘vintage’ ornaments.
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Viscosity printing is a subtle technique with the potential for endless variations, it can completely change the prints you get from a plate and lead you into new and untried colour combinations, in fact you will find that combinations you would never think of using actually work very well in the viscosity method.
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Making plates with carborundum paint is a technique beloved by many printmakers, and once you have tried it you will understand why.
It is a lovely, free painterly technique and you can work quite fast if that suits you. The marks can be very expressive, and the prints often look like a lithograph or evenlike a painting.
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I think of wet-and-dry carborundum paper as a fake mezzotint because it will create a beautiful velvety toned ground that is reminiscent of this traditional (highly involved and time consuming) technique.
If you want to make flat areas of strong even tone without waiting for glue to dry then this is the technique for you. If you use doublesided tape it is almost instant.
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