Friday 22 February 2013

Redo on photo etching

 
This is a photo etching I did a few weeks ago, I wasn't happy with the black marks around the image that I previously posted, so took the plate back into the print room and cleaned the plate with white spirit before printing, think it works better as the image stands out more and isn't lost.


Tuesday 19 February 2013

Collagraph Houses

Below are some collagraphs that I've been testing today, some are a little too inky so they have come out  bit splodgy. I've been incorporating photos into the prints and I feel its kind of getting there, I like how you can see the raw material coming through and all the imperfections.  I feel the most successful part of these prints are the textures, I think I can develop these textures and combine it with other pieces of work to add another dimension. 

The row of houses was inspired by a story I am illustrating; the old woman who lived in a vinegar bottle, its was to compliment the story when the old woman lived in a row of houses, I wanted to show a sense of community and I came up with the idea of a long 6 seated bike (which hasn't printed that clearly) which is central of the image, I was also thinking about including maybe a post box/ telephone box/ red bus as they all signify this. 




Collagraph in brown ink and chine colle of photographs of windows and doors

Collagraph in brown ink and chine colle with green tissue paper and photographs

 Collagraph in brown ink and photographs 


Collagraph and chine colle


This is a photoshopped image, I took a photograph of my print and then added the doors on photoshop

This is a photoshopped image, I took a photograph of my print and then added the doors on photoshop




Friday 15 February 2013

Collagraph


Thought I'd share what I've been doing today, I've been playing around with a few textures and been making some collagraphs

The experiment above didn't quite worked as the shellac that I had to coat it in before printing was not dry enough and covered bits, however I do like some of the textures though and hopefully next week I'll be experimenting with combining photos elements into the image as well, for now though I'm just seeing want the different texture look like

Thanks for looking


Monday 11 February 2013

Photo Etchings

Below are a few prints from a photo etching I recently did- I find this process very rewarding, I've been experimenting with different ways to make marks recently and photo etching is a great way for me to produce this. I like how I can combine many different elements in a photo etching i.e. hand drawn elements, photographs, textures for prints etc...

The piece was inspired from the story about a woman who lived in a vinegar bottle, I have illustrated the part in the story when the woman wanted to be queen. Through research I found that there was similarities with this character in the story with Mary 1 Queen of England (bloody Mary). Through looking at the old portraits of Mary 1 I can up with this idea and composition.

Theses are just experiments at the moment- I'm thinking about the different uses of colour, however I think the colours I'm using here aren't quite there yet

 Brown Print
 Blue Print
 Black Print
 Yellow and Black- Plate printed twice on one piece of paper

Red and Brown- Plate printed twice on one piece of paper
 


 
Peel and Press Film for photo etching 

 
Etching Plate
 
 
 
I think I might experiement with chine colle for a different way to express colour, thoughts welcome 

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Idea


Just something I'm playing around with- this image based on a line in a story which says 'very well, when you go to bed tonight turn around three times an shut your eyes, and in the morning you'll see what you see' ...


Tuesday 5 February 2013

Testing

Thought I'd share something that I'm currently working on at the moment, I trying out a few different processes out in the print room and also experimenting with how I express myself through my drawing/ mark making/ imagery...

I want to use a combination of different elements in one piece of work- the image below is just something that I'm playing around with and is just a rough idea- I feel that some elements are stronger than others- I need to develop it so there is harmony with the different elements, kind of like each section has a voice, some need to be louder then others- this is something that needs exploring more

Thoughts are welcome

 
 

Photo Etching

Last week I had a go at the print process of photo etching, my tests are below. The blue image is the photo film called 'press and peel' that I had my image print on too just through a laser printer, the image had to be inverted and bitmapped. After this the etching plate was prepared in the normal way, filed down and degreased- when the plate was ready the press and peel film with the image on it was applied to the etching plate by ironing it onto the plate- these took about 7 minutes to iron on for the best results- the film was then peeled off the plate and then the etching with the imprinted image was placed in the acid bath for 10 minutes. 

The black marks around my image are what I think are bubble marks, its very hard to prevent this- I think I need to experiment with how I place the film on the etching and how I iron it on the plate. 

Overall I'm happy with the process and how the image has turned out, some more successful than others but I suppose that's what its all about




This is the peel and press photo film

Test 1

Test 2

 
Test 3 (needed more pressure on the printing press)
 
 
 
Etching plate 1- only a few black marks

 
Etching plate 2- Lots of black marks- too many air bubbles when iron the photograph film onto the plate