Printmaking update

Sorry I've been VERY slack with my blog lately, but ironically, this is a good sign because I have been actually VERY productive making art (and not documenting it).

Life at VCA is keeping me very busy... tonight I am presenting my body of work to the class so I'm excited to hear their feedback and reactions. But more on that later.

Today, I'll give you an update on what's been happening in my Printmaking Elective. It appears that I've gone abstract, and have been using my copper plates to create mono prints instead of etchings and aquatints.

But, I'm loving my happy accidents and experiments. Here are two examples of the kind of images I've been producing: I'm actually using a very small plate (5cm x 15cm) to create my images, adding or removing ink as I see fit. In the first image I inked up the whole plate with a roller and then used an old phone book to smudge the ink and remove some sections. I really like the tones that I'm getting from this effect.

The second image was created similarly, but this time I used a spatula (normally reserved for tradesmen who fix up holes in walls) to spread the ink around and create this ribbon effect.

I'm having a problem with the ink smudging onto the paper beyond the plate - you can see it at the bottom or top where the print is supposed to end. I think this is because the plate is so small, when I place the heavy press blanket onto the paper, the slightest movement can sometimes affect. It's very frustrating because these are mono prints - one offs! I can't just go and re-print another one, each is unique and original. So what to do? Well, in the next few weeks I think I will try to move to a bigger plate and see what happens. It will be a bit easier to work with anyway.

That's it from me for now. Please let me know what you think of the prints?

Creatively yours,
Maja