Saturday, November 14, 2009

A combination of relief and intaglio


This new print was born from the combination of two techniques and used one linoleum block. It is a study of the patterns found on the surface of water (in a bit of an abstract presentation). Basically what I did was wipe and force a water soluble oil ink (prussian blue) into the cut recesses of the block. The flat surface relief had a layer of light cerulean blue linseed oil ink rolled onto the surface with a brayer.

I soaked a piece of heavier white cotton rag paper and then blotted it between an old cotton towel. Setting my top roller for moderate pressure on the etching press I put felt blankets and newsprint overtop of the print paper (which was set on top of the block) and ran it under the roller. This pushed the damp paper down into the recessed areas and also picked up the ink from the surface. Some of the deepest areas of cutting did not get ink into them so they printed as slivers of white which add to the play of light on the surface of the water.

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