In September I did a marvellous 2 day workshop with Brenda Tye and produced a collagraph plate (and print) I was very happy with (amongst a few others I wasn’t so keen on).
This was my initial print:
Since then I’ve been hanging out to reprint it with some added colour. I know that sounds very easy, and a quick job, but that isn’t the case.
Ink is applied liberally, with a cardboard spatula, across the surface of the print plate and then is selectively wiped back. Where carborundum is adhered to the collagraph plate it will hold the ink and create a dense print.
As can be seen from the piece above, I decided to create a design with complex alveoli situated within the carborundum areas, making it very, very hard to wipe them clean without removing some of the ink from what should be densely printed sections. Wiping back the outer surrounding areas was a relatively simple process and only entailed a decision regarding colour placement.
It took 2 1/2 hours to mix my colour palette and produce two coloured prints with fairly good alveoli definition. But, hey, who cares about the time it takes? It’s the end satisfaction that counts.
What a difference colour makes. And one without so much colour:
This second print was wiped back differently to the first one. I used the tarlatan across the whole motif, thereby removing more from the denser areas and leaving more in the alveoli.
I prefer the piece with more definition and colour, which took considerably longer to achieve. A great plate and I’m not finished with it yet. A revisit will happen at some stage I’m sure.
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