Print-Making
Etching and lithography - Cleaning etching plates
Cleaning etching plates
It is vital to clean the ink out of the etched lines with turpentine after printing for the day as any hardened ink remaining will cause "thin" faint proofs when next printed.
How to avoid cut blankets or cut proofs
If the printing paper or etching blanket suffers a "cut" at the plate-mark when printing, it does not mean there is too much pressure, but that the edges of the plate need filling.
The Collagraph
The collagraph takes its name from the Collage. It is an impression made from a board or block on which three-dimensional elements are glued and it is prepared in the same way as the relief block print but the difference is that it is an intaglio print. Seal its surface with shellac and ink it with a soft brayer. Wipe the surface as you would a metal etching plate and print onto dampened paper through an etching press. The collagraph is characteristically embossed and frequently contains blind (uninked) impressions.
Monotypes
Monotype prints are unique and are not identical to each other. It is a painting in any medium that doesn't dry too rapidly - oil, paint, printing inks or even aqueous paint - done on a metal or acrylic sheet, either freely or following a transferred drawing, which is then transferred to dampened paper via an etching press - only low pressure is needed. Although an edition of a number of similar prints may be done each print will have it own uniqueness.
Paper - Choosing the right paper
Fabriano's seven centuries of papermaking
The Cartiere Milani Fabriano in Central Italy can trace its roots back to 1264 and over the last seven centuries their craftsmen can be credited with the innovations and inventions of the multi-hammer hydraulic mills for rag pulping, paper sizing with animal gelatine to improve permanence of the paper, and the introduction of the romantic and valuable watermark. Today, four factories and over 1000 skilled employees produce handmade papers, watercolour, print-making, pastel and drawing papers.
Fabriano is the World's best!
.
Screenprinting - Photographic screen printing
Advantages of Photographic Screen Printing
The advantage is that virtually anything you can create in black and white (or black and clear) can be reproduced by this process. Start with a film positive -one for each colour you want to print. The most convenient method of photo screen printing is the direct method. In this method the photo sensitive film or liquid emulsion is applied to the screen, allowed to dry and exposed to the artwork (film positive) with the proper light source. Speedball Photo Emulsion is for use with either water or turps-based inks and Autosol WR is for use with water-based inks.
Screenprinting - Making a film positive
A film positive is required when using the photographic screen process. It consists of an opaque black image on a transparent sheet, such as acetate, or clear photocopier film. You can use black vinyl stick-on-letters, transfer lettering, indian ink or make your design on a computer and print it on laser printer film. A commercial printing company can convert your black and white artwork to a film positive if you are unable to make your own. In order for any design to screen print well your image must be sharp and in high contrast. If your colours are going to overlap you need a film positive and a screen for each colour. If not use one screen and block out areas with masking tape or blockout medium and print your colours progressively.
Screenprinting - How to prevent warpage
To avoid screen frame warpage particularly when water based screen inks are used wooden screen frames must be sealed with shellac to seal the timber fibres.
Screenprinting - Exposure Lamps
Exposure Lamp - What does it do?
All photo materials are sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light. The black/opaque parts of your design on the film positive (acetate, mylar etc.) will prevent light from the Exposure Lamp from passing through the film positive. The transparent parts of your design will allow UV light from the Exposure Lamp through and harden (fix/set) the non-image areas of the emulsion-coated screen. The areas of the emulsion-coated screen which have been protected by the black image and have therefore not hardened can now be washed out of the screen. The hardened, non-image area of the screen effectively blocks the screen ink from passing through, resulting in a printed image being created from the washed-out areas.
Lightboxes are designed to assist with the layup, drawing or assembly of artwork & for preparing tracings as well as sorting transparencies and with the aid of a Translucent Cutting Mat can even be used to help cut stencils or similar.