Printing texture

Pinot Noir

A friend, Brenda Rowe, suggested some printing practice at her studio this morning, so I packed up some supplies and headed over.   I used a gel plate and brought water based and oil based inks with me, as well as some pieces of plant and feathers to add texture to the prints.  This first print is of a grapevine leaf, the variety is Pinot Noir, which I have growing in the greenhouse.  This was printed using Caligo Safe Wash etching ink, carbon black.

It was really odd as the weather was warm today with a breeze which was making the inks dry almost faster than I could print.  The paint was being picked up from the plate onto the roller and it became quite frustrating for awhile.   I switched to the oil based inks and had a few issues but they resolved themselves.   I'll be working on some monotypes for the future when I have time to manipulate the inks on the plate.  This time I worked on textures and printed on subi and rice papers - mostly because I forgot to bring my other papers with me!

Threadbare

I used a combination of cheesecloth and thread for this second print.  This is the ghost print which I prefer to the original, shown here.

 Neutral colours in these prints remind me of etchings, especially when the detail is finer.

 Hanging on by a Thread

I also used colour in some prints and this second 'thread' piece I like as well.