Baker’s Dozen For January

So far so good, I managed to make a print and a book this month for A Bakers Dozen.

I’ve been experimenting further with copper sulphate etching, trying to make marks that I could repeat in future work. Part way through making this plate I realised that I hadn’t yet used any solvent based gloops so I decided to make this an environmentally friendly etching. The resists were done using a combination of tape masks and Graphic Chemical’s water soluble relief printing ink.

I only had time for a quick proof print at Hot Bed Press so I finished printing it at home, experimenting with different inks and press pressures.

The plate inked up in prussian blue.

The first proof in sepia (printed at Hot Bed Press - so the pressures are set right on this one)

Prussian Blue

Burnt sienna, ultramarine and ochre

Playing with new Christmas present inks (process cyan, process magenta and process yellow) just to see what happens. I like brightness of these colours. It’s something I’m going to explore further.

 Adding burnt sienna to process colours.

There are bits I like in most of them, so now I need a new plate to push it further.

I’ve also been mono printing for January's books (I'm using a fishbonefold one of Hedi Kyle’s structures). To get some kind of unity between the three prints I used a set of circle textures for making marks in the paint.

The first book had plain paper on the inside folds and a circle pattern for the cover. I also made a mistake in the ratio of the page lengths when marking out.

For the second two I adjusted the page lengths

 I printed grids and lines on the other side of the paper so that the openings also had a texture to them

 The covers for these two are printed to reflect the grids and lines of the openings. This structure wants to spring open so all the books are held closed with a belly band.

Print Preparation

I had a disappointing day at the press last Thursday. It was my own fault. I hadn’t got round to working out what I wanted to do that day so I settled for sizing down an old drawing and winging it. The mark making worked in parts. The right hand size is getting there. But the image was not good overall and some of the lines have bitten too deeply to remedy easily.

 This week I am ready early.

A line drawing...

 and a tonal study.

Fingers crossed.
 

I’ve also started work on some monotypes. At the moment I think they’ll turn into this month’s Bakers Dozen Book but I’ll wait and see.

A baker’s dozen for 2017?

After faffing around trying to work out what I wanted to do next I have come to the conclusion that I work best with deadlines and a brief.

In the past I have thought about trying to joining various drawing ‘a drawing a day for a year’ type projects but I know that I’d probably fail a daily commitment within the first few weeks. So I have decided to set my own challenge and try to produce a print and a book each month. They will probably be a mixture of polished work (finished, editioned and ready to go – for sale, exhibition or swop) and more experimental bits and pieces (exploring techniques and structures that have grabbed me).

I’m going to record the finished prints and books at http://bakersdozenbooksandprints.weebly.com  as well as on the blog so it will be more obvious if I one miss out. I might need that impetus in busy months. 

Yes, I know that there are only 12 months in the year, but although this week I managed to finish a book edition and produce a print, the work for both of these was started in 2016 and it seemed like cheating to use them as January’s response .

I started this print to carry on exploring the textures and mark making I can achieve using copper sulphate and aluminium. I’m happy with the textures on the stonework now I want to try and apply it to a more interesting image.

Fairy Tales which is my contribution to Endings and Beginnings is finally finished, printed in three different colours. I’m not sure that I’d use the floating panel structure again in a hurry, but I think that in combination with the text it worked for this book.

Now to think about January’s book and print!