miniature mix media prints - landscapes

Near Rossport

polymer plate etching with hand colour

2019

print image size: 4 x 7 cm (1.5 x 2.75 inches)

You might notice that the image at the beginning of this blog entry bears a similarity to a work featured in my last blog entry. That previous image was a colour linoleum block print. You would be right because it is very similar in fact. I adapted the same view and composition using a different printmaking methodology. It is also  about 1/10th scale in size and is therefore officially a miniature.  It also incorporates hand colouring to become an original mix media work on paper. (intaglio print & painting).

The sketch I made for my lino was scanned and reduced in size. I then printed it using black inkjet ink onto clear film. This was then exposed using a fine dot aquatint screen and UV light onto a small pre-cut piece of polymer plate (solar plate) that I had rounded the corners using a metal file. 

The image was etched into the plate surface by exposure to the light. Gentle scrubbing with a toothbrush and using tepid water removed surface area to reveal the image. I exposed the plate again (without the film) to UV to harden the polymer for good.





Black oil based etching ink (cranfield safewash) was wiped into the shallow recessed etched areas and I then put 250 gm weight cotton rag paper over the plate. A lot of pressure was applied by running it under the roller of a small etching press which transferred the image to the paper. The printed image is then secured to a board using moistened paper tape (also used for watercolour painting) and set aside in a warm space to dry (up to a week or more duration) 

print on paper and the plate from which it originates. Notice how the image is in reverse on the plate.

Once the etching ink dries I apply colour into the print using washes of thinned liquid acrylic inks with synthetic taklon brushes. The paper is then cut to size with the bottom leaving a deckle tear edge created by folding over a special ruler with a rough tooth.

The resulting print with colour. Each print on paper is different because of differences produced during the painting application. 






My plan is to continue with this same format in a series of miniature prints that are based on landscapes found around the region where I live.