Artist Hilary Norcliffe was back at Press Works today overseeing the proofing of her drypoint plates as Todd prepped the ink and paper and manned the printing press. The monotype colors were not working to Hilary's satisfaction so we decided to go with straight black and white. After several different test prints Hilary and Todd decided that going with a heavily soaked and well blotted Rives BFK was the way to go.
Because Akua inks are water-based it takes just the right dampness for a good print. Too wet and the image will bleed. Too dry the lines are weak and broken. The final proofs looked great and Hilary ok'd the editioning. She is going to hand-color some of her prints but they look great as achromatic images too. Press Works is going to print a limited edition of four of Hilary's drypoint plates which we will make available for purchase through the Press Works site by summer's end. We also hope to have them on display soon at our brick and mortar location as well as other venues in and around the Inland Empire. Below is a bit of the printing process.
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| Wiping the plate. |
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| Blotting the paper. |
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| Placing the paper. |
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| Printing the plate. |
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| Evaluating the print. |
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| Drypoint image with monotyped colors. |
Ok, not all the monotyped colors were a bust. This process involved Hilary painting Akua Kolor inks on acrylic glass, then Todd transferred the colors to the print paper via the press or by hand rubbing. Then Todd inked and wiped the drypoint plate and registered it to the monotype and sent it through the press a second time to print the black lines.
