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| Near Rossport along Lake Superior - 2019 four block relief print (7 colours) image size: 15 x 20 cm ( 6 x 8 inches) |
My apologies to followers of this blog. It has been nearly six months since my last blog entry. I am still dealing with health related challenges and there are limitations in the scope of what I am able to do and for what length of time. However my creativity has not been stifled and I am making it a point to keep the proverbial creative fires stoked.
One way was to return to an old image and produce from it again with slightly different elements. I found an older block of mine that was carved back in 2007. The small edition six colour print originated from one carved linoleum block (key image) and three thin pieces of stryofoam mounted onto mat board plates. The shapes were drawn into, cut and mounted carefully on their supports.
Prints were made by passing the blocks and paper under a roller (with set pressure) on my small tabletop etching press. However over time from multiple passings the styrofoam quicky deteriorated and cracked.
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| progress proof before some minor additions |
I decided that a new version could be printed this time around by replacing the styrofoam with carved raised linoleum elements. There have been some changes in terms of water, and a mid background landform.
This was also an opportunity to use Graphic Chemical water based relief printing ink. The ink is very sticky (but keeps open on the glass slab for a day or two). It is not oil based ink but the base that suspends the colour pigments is derived from plant sources. Once printed onto an absorbent paper surface it dries quickly (a few hours in the right studio conditions.)
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| Tempered glass inking plate with Graphic Chemical water based relief printing inks and two sizes of rubber brayers. |
Four blocks in total were used. Two blocks had separate pieces of lino cut apart that were glued onto an equal size substrate. Since some elements had separation between them I was able to use one block to print 3 colour elements in a single pass. Small brayers allowed me to apply ink to the raised lino shapes. The first block that created the water and sky used a blend of inks rolled out on the glass. I put two small dollops of different tones of blue and then a bit of white ink beside the lighter blue.
A registration board system was used that had a 3 hole punch to hold the paper in place and also an area that the blocks of equal size could be held steady and would line up when printed in layers.
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| progression from block #1 - blend of blues and white followed by the layer of ink from block #2 far dusty blue-teal landform |
