More Hand-Colored Prints
Here are a couple more versions of "Faithful 100%," both of which are hand-colored and resting peacefully in my studio.
This week was interesting, I had to finish printing an edition of a pretty large plate (it's 12" x 18"). I have never done an edition of something that size before, and it required some concessions on my end. If you're not entirely familiar with the printmaking process, there's pretty much two ends of it. There's the mentally frustrating part where you're trying to get the copper plate to go along with your plans, which it may or may not be inclined to do. Like I said, it can be mentally taxing, but it's not usually physically that big of a deal. The other end of the process is the actual printing of a plate, which can be physically demanding. Even small plates that are done quickly are accompanyed by buckets of sweat and aches the next day (which is why traditional printmakers tend to sneer at things like giclee prints - if it doesn't take a couple of Aleve and a vat of coffee to get you through the day, it's not really a print).
However, a large plate requires much more time and attention to do correctly (which you'd want to make sure to do - especially when each print requires a full sheet of printmaking paper that can range from $2 to $9 each). I decided to break the printing into two sessions instead of trying (and likely failing) to get the full run done in one day. There is also the complicating factor of what to do with a number of giant, wet sheets of paper. I ordinarily tape up the wet prints onto a wooden board (it takes about a day for the paper to dry fully, and when it's dry it'll be perfectly flat), but considering that it's the end of the quarter and everyone else is doing the same thing, space is at a premium. I found an unused board that could accomdate four of my enormous wet prints, so that was the limit for how many I could print each day (because trying to store a giant wet sheet of paper is asking for trouble, and it would also require re-soaking at a later point so that I could flatten it).
The first day of printing, I managed to get three prints, and the second day I got four prints. On both days, that was a pretty full afternoon of printing, and I just about reached my physical limit on both days. Yesterday's task was to measure and trim down all seven of the prints, and to try not to get any ink on them (printing ink is magical, it ends up literally everywhere). Going through the prints, I found that six out of seven were acceptable for my edition (which is a ridiculously good batting average for me). I decided on a margin size, and started measuring. A minor problem popped up - there wasn't a straight edge large enough to use for the long side of the print. The final dimensions of the sheet of paper ended up being 20" x 27", and the longest edge in the studio was 24" long.
I figured out a way to work around that, so now I have an edition of six of this really big print. I'll have pictures of it in the next week or so - the whole edition is still in my drawer in the print studio. The next challenge is how to transport the batch of prints without messing them up. Good times...
c.
This week was interesting, I had to finish printing an edition of a pretty large plate (it's 12" x 18"). I have never done an edition of something that size before, and it required some concessions on my end. If you're not entirely familiar with the printmaking process, there's pretty much two ends of it. There's the mentally frustrating part where you're trying to get the copper plate to go along with your plans, which it may or may not be inclined to do. Like I said, it can be mentally taxing, but it's not usually physically that big of a deal. The other end of the process is the actual printing of a plate, which can be physically demanding. Even small plates that are done quickly are accompanyed by buckets of sweat and aches the next day (which is why traditional printmakers tend to sneer at things like giclee prints - if it doesn't take a couple of Aleve and a vat of coffee to get you through the day, it's not really a print).
However, a large plate requires much more time and attention to do correctly (which you'd want to make sure to do - especially when each print requires a full sheet of printmaking paper that can range from $2 to $9 each). I decided to break the printing into two sessions instead of trying (and likely failing) to get the full run done in one day. There is also the complicating factor of what to do with a number of giant, wet sheets of paper. I ordinarily tape up the wet prints onto a wooden board (it takes about a day for the paper to dry fully, and when it's dry it'll be perfectly flat), but considering that it's the end of the quarter and everyone else is doing the same thing, space is at a premium. I found an unused board that could accomdate four of my enormous wet prints, so that was the limit for how many I could print each day (because trying to store a giant wet sheet of paper is asking for trouble, and it would also require re-soaking at a later point so that I could flatten it).
The first day of printing, I managed to get three prints, and the second day I got four prints. On both days, that was a pretty full afternoon of printing, and I just about reached my physical limit on both days. Yesterday's task was to measure and trim down all seven of the prints, and to try not to get any ink on them (printing ink is magical, it ends up literally everywhere). Going through the prints, I found that six out of seven were acceptable for my edition (which is a ridiculously good batting average for me). I decided on a margin size, and started measuring. A minor problem popped up - there wasn't a straight edge large enough to use for the long side of the print. The final dimensions of the sheet of paper ended up being 20" x 27", and the longest edge in the studio was 24" long.
I figured out a way to work around that, so now I have an edition of six of this really big print. I'll have pictures of it in the next week or so - the whole edition is still in my drawer in the print studio. The next challenge is how to transport the batch of prints without messing them up. Good times...
c.
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