Thursday, April 22, 2010

Solarplate etching

technically, the plates I used are KM photopolymer plates
http://www.takachpress.com/access/tyobo.htm
the solarplate brand is also available from Takach Press
I'll have to try those as well



Encouraged by good results on Monday night, I went back to the exposure unit and made four plates.
The top one is inked with Charbonnel Etching Concentrated Blue. The range in the plate is good. I think I will change the color since this is the first plate to be printed, and with be the background. (probably some kind of green) I also will experiment with a couple of different off-white and ochre papers.



I decided to test the rest of the plates with black, to make sure I would get the saturation I wanted in a color plate. Testing with black ink on white paper makes judging value very easy. And, if the color is not working out later, at least I know its an ink problem and not a plate problem.
This one will be some kind of lighter blue, and fairly transparent.



This is the main image. It will remain black. No matter how subtle I can get the aquatint, I still have a preference for some kind of strong-handed graphic-looking image in the picture.
Technically, this is still an aquatint style plate. That just allows any width line that I want. I am pleasantly surprised by the variety of line I can get, from super delicate, almost disappearing, to very bold.



This last plate is going to be the top layer of ink. It will be a transparent white. (the black part will be white, so you have to image this image in reverse)
Since everything underneath will be a dark or middle value, (and the paper is not white) I'm curious how transparent the white will have to be. Much of the underlying image may already show through with very little transparent base mixed into the white.

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