(Technical details on the flower plate/print are all the same as for the plate below.)
Yesterday, it felt like spring here—it was warm and dry, and I was stuck inside learning how to do webforms using php. Today, I'm done with that, and it's cold and wet, just like how it's supposed to be in the middle of January.
So anyhow, again, this was made as a relief plate; paper was Rives Lightweight, printed dry. Plate on the print bed and paper on top. Printed through an etching press w/ very little pressure and no blanket, just a cardboard. Pretty much the same set up as the last entry, just the paper is different.
Now, this is the same plate as from the last entry, but printed on Rives Lightweight dry. The details from both entries are all showing the same areas, so you can open up two windows and look at both at the same time and compare.
Detail 1:
Detail 2:
Detail 3:
Looks like the text printed much better than the solids, and there's less of the movement on the edges that you can detect. That would make sense as well, since the paper is slightly thinner, and I'm pretty sure we did not change the pressure on the press, so there was less pressure that would move the paper in that direction. Also, the paper is dry, so the ink isn't going to spread as much.
OK, now I'm all caught up on the solarplate documentation!
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3 comments:
Hi!
Great to see all the documentation! I know how much work it takes to put all that together and I very much appreciate your effort. I'm sold on this process now! It looks like I will be able to accomplish a drawing-ink painting style of print on the letterpress, if I scan and reverse my image then print it on film for the "negative." I will be experimenting with exposure times, I am guessing. Did Barbara use the sun or a UV lightbox? I also love the way etching looks. An etching press may be in my future. I say that I discovered printmaking after I was done with art school, probably what my major should have been. I did an internship at Pyramid Atlantic and was introduced to the Vanderook and woodcuts there. I don't regret all the painting, drawing and photography classes I had, though. But I love process, and printmaking is great for that.
Once I decide to take the plunge and buy the base, the plates, and perhaps make a UV box, I will be blogging on my experiments with solar plate.
Since I print letterpress, any type will still be metal type or standard photopolymer (the professional service for reliable results.) But image wise, I am looking forward to being able to "paint" on the press.
Thanks again for completing the documentation!
Julie
Julie, sorry, I forgot you had a question in there. Barbara uses a fancy uv exposure unit that controls the amount of light in addition to time.
I have had experience w/ using sun to expose PhotoEZ, and even at noon time, the sun moves enough w/in a 2-3 minute time frame that the supper thin lines will not expose correctly. So I do not recommend using sunlight as your exposure unit at all.
What a relief!
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