Introduction to print

Initially I thought mono and lino printing were not relevant to my current practice, however I was pleasantly surprised to find it was well suited to my work. For my ‘collections’ brief which I am making pop-up books for, I was immediately confronted with worry as to what I was going to make a print of. After some experimentation with mono printing, my images seemed to look really similar to the work of Mark Rothko. I then decided to cast aside my pessimistic attitude towards lino and I found a great image in ‘Paper Engineering, 3D design techniques for 2D material’. My lino of a concertina book started out looking rubbish and I began to doubt how it was going to look, however I worked into my lino and eventually it began to take shape and looked much better than I had anticipated. However there were a few problems lining up the paper when I came to work on top of another print. The mistake I made in the end looked unusual and added a strange affect which grew on me and almost looks intentional.
Collograph was the next process which was totally new to me. I used an image of a type of ‘Fractal Cut’ and experimented with various textures. Foil and camera film are definitely not what I would use again, they kept sticking to the ink roller each time I applied more ink. After I had got over this problem and made some prints I decided the wet-paper prints weren’t successful, they ran and the ink bled, which added an abstract affect but not one I was expecting. The dry-paper prints I made were much crisper and had definite lines which were what I was trying to create as the process I am studying is very geometric and mathematical.
Dry point was also brand new to me but I used the same image for collograph and was interesting to see the same image produce totally individual prints. I developed ten images from the same plate and was intriguing to see the design unfold throughout each print. Regrettably using the soldering pen for the intricate details was not successful, but I couldn’t handle using the etching needle anymore. I enjoyed using the different tools for creating different effects and although they aren’t the best end results, I’m pleased I tried all the tools available.
Etching and Aquatint were the last two processes and were a complete disaster! I used an enlarged image of an intricate design of a fractal, which I specifically chose to suit the medium I was using. The final prints were all over the place and a bit sketchy as opposed to be refined and crisp. I moved on to aquatint and after making the first print I realised I had tried to cover too much area with a permanent marker and therefore didn’t work. When I re-aquatinted using acrylic paint, it worked how I think it was supposed to. I prefer the end prints with the aquatint as opposed to the etched but all areas could be developed further to a much better standard. However as an introduction to print it has opened my eyes to incorporating the practice into my Vis Comm work for the future.