A charm of goldfinches original print

Here's another drypoint with chine colle, a charm of goldfinches (a couple of versions). We seem to have lots here at the moment! Hope your Christmas break (if you've had one!) has been all you wished for, and that 2016 brings health, happiness, and lots of art!

Chinese lanterns drypoint and chine colle

Chinese lanterns original handmade print, drypoint and chine colle. Loved doing this, the chine colle adds a real fizz of colour!

Drypoint hares

Here are a couple of small drypoint prints - 7 by 10 cm. Loving watching my local hares!

Walks at Wicken

These are drypoint monoprints, based on some of the sights on walks I've had around Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire... Enjoyed playing around with the compositions for these, lots of possibilities!

Drypoint paper plates - something different!

Here's a bit of an experiment - this is using drypoint paper plates (these: http://intaglioprintmaker.com/category/paper-drypoint-plate). It's thin card with a coating that you can scratch through with a drypoint tool. You can get nice drypoint lines, and the toned areas (the blue and black here) are made by tearing the surface, exposing the card. I enjoyed trying this out, but the plate doesn't last too long!

 Printed area is A4 or thereabouts.

Long-tailed tit drypoint print

Here's a recent little drypoint print, based on a post-mortem study I made last year of a sadly deceased long-tailed tit. I really like it, though I'm not sure how well 'dead bird art' goes down in general! What do you think?

 Printed area is approximately 6 by 5 inches.

Drypoint cat

Here's a little drypoint of the cat, completed a few weeks back... I printed some like this, with two ink colours, and some in just black. I also printed some in black then added some watercolour. Had fun playing around!

Little owl drypoint

Here's another print for my 'Bird list' project, inspired by the birdlife I see/hear around the house and garden.

This is a Little Owl (Athene noctua). I sometimes see these guys flying about at dusk, but more often hear them - they can be quite noisy!

Drypoint sparrow with watercolour

I've been experimenting with adding some watercolour to a few of the house sparrow drypoint prints...

Drypoint sparrow

More inky fun - another drypoint, inspired by the birds I see and hear around the house and garden. Here's a cheeky house sparrow.

Printed area is approx. 6 by 8". This one was printed from an acrylic plate, which is more robust than the acetate sheets I've been using up to now. Again, it's the wiping and leaving of ink on the plate for tone that really makes the image for me, and I love the fresh sketchy feel you can get with the actual etching.

Goldcrest drypoint and chine colle

I've been playing with the baby etching press some more...

I printed an edition of six; because the plate is inked and wiped for each print, they are all slightly different (plus I was playing around with varying the amount of ink I left on the plate). The chine colle is the gold crest of the little bird. Printed area is approx. 5 by 8".

This was the first print, nice crisp lines.

This was the last of six. The lines aren't so dark and crisp after six inkings, wipings and journeys through the press. You can see as well the difference you can make in how much ink you wipe, and how much you can vary the tone.

I was fairly pleased with the way these turned out, but it's not easy to judge just how much ink to wipe off! I guess it comes with experience, so I'll keep on keeping on with these!

I'm planning a series of prints, using various techniques, based on the birds I see and hear from the house/garden here in Cambridgeshire. Calling it the 'Bird List' project, not very inspired I know! (Let me know if you think of a better name...) Should keep me going for a while...

Another foxy drypoint

Another couple of prints, again taken from my first drypoint plate. This time I left more ink on the surface of the plate. Lots of fun experimenting!

New etching press!

I've had a bit of a splurge and treated myself to a baby etching press (FOME school press) - very small, but it will let me try out some stuff I've been keen to do ever since the Curwen Press workshops last summer...

So, here's the first effort...

First is the first drypoint print, done on an acetate sheet. Next is the 'ghost print' - the plate went through the press a second time with no additional inking. Then, when these had dried, I added watercolour to the ghost print. Just to see, you know...

Stuff I used: Caligo safe wash oil-based etching ink, Fabriano Rosapina paper, W&N watercolours. Plate size was about 6 by 8".

Drypoint at the Curwen Print Study Centre

The Wednesday workshop at the Curwen Print Study Centre was drypoint, an intaglio technique (where the ink lies in the recesses you make) that needs a press. Traditionally metal plates were used for this, but more recent materials include Perspex as well as acetate, which is what we used. It’s a certain grade of acetate which will produce a ‘burr’ along the lines that you scratch in.

I particularly enjoyed this technique as it’s very close to drawing – both my plates were based on sketchbook images of the cat. Again, I went for a traditional figurative approach, but there were some stunning abstract prints too. The great advantage of acetate is that you can cut it up, rearrange elements and generally manipulate your image quite a lot. I’d like to have a go at this technique again and be a bit wilder!

So you scratch your image into the acetate – we used mounted needles. Sandpaper is good for texture. The marks can be quite shallow, as the pressure of the press means that everything will print. Intaglio ink is scumbled into the marks, and then you wipe the plate to take off the excess ink. Any ink left on the surface will print as ‘plate tone’, which you can control by wiping off more or less ink. You print onto slightly damp paper. And of course, you can go back in to your plate and scratch away more if you want to!

My first print:

 

My second effort was still figurative (cat again), but a little bit more adventurous. The little circles at the bottom were made by taking a ‘rubbing’ of a piece of Lego with sandpaper (there are lots of possibilities here!). The actual cat was based on one of my contour drawings, and the line was made using a drill (yes, they let me loose with a drill!). The first print is a straightforward print, and the next uses the chine collé technique, where tissue or other very thin paper is stuck to the paper before the piece goes through the press.

 Another fabulous workshop - I was exhausted!