The End of the Beginning of Printmaking

Well, the semester has been over for a couple of weeks and now that I have had a sufficient amount of time to relax and play, it is now time to add the last of my Printmaking projects from the semester and also to begin other projects. I do have to give a shout out to the people in my class who kept me sane throughout the semester, Thank you, friends. I would have HATED that class with out you. We did great at figuring out...well, basically everything.

Project #3

 We did Copper Etching which was a process that I enjoyed more than the first two, mostly because it didn't involve my hand going numb and because clean-up was so much quicker and a little less messy in a way.

To start, the copper plate must be degreased (a step that is repeated over and over and over and over again throughout the process) A hard ground/soft ground is put on (a waxy substance that actually looks like a Reese's Peanut Buttercup) and dried. The design is then drawn/carved into the waxy substance to expose the copper, then you put it in the acid bath, which eats away at the copper and the hard ground protects the unexposed area. It is pretty nifty and very intimidating to do at first, especially since I had no idea what I was doing pretty much the whole time. Anywho, here are my results.

  

 

"Unmasked"

6x9

Intaglio Copper Etching

Left: Black ink

Right: A La Poupee: blue, orange, brown ink

 

Project #4

Silk Screen. By far my favorite process and project in this class. It begins with a screen, in which you put a photo emulsion on, add your design (which is printed in black on clear paper/plastic for each color/section of the design) Very simply put, you expose your screen to light with the design on it, spray it off and magically your design is on screen. I know, you though magic didn't exist, but you thought wrong, you muggle you. You then line up what ever you are printing on with your design on the screen, apply ink, squeegee the ink through the screen, and again-magically you have transferred your design onto the surface. I really want to buy a screen and make t-shirts...again! I enjoyed designing, the process, how precise it all is, and yes, even the clean up (this is the only ink we used that was water soluble-no more paint thinner, lacquer thinner, or other things that were eating away at my health) Here is the finished project: 

"Bad Fishing Day"

9x14

Silk Screen (4 layers/colors)

 Silk screen t-shirts (pretty awesome, I know)

Just some shirts I made for my sister for one of her classes. Pretty neat.

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