Flipping Plates and Relief Etching!

Since the recent success of the '12 PrintMAkers' exhibition at the RK Burt Gallery in London I have been trying out a new approach to my printing. When preparing my small plate for final prints I like to try to make about 4 proofs previously. I wanted to make use of these proofs so started experimenting with over printing. By flipping the plate and printing it upside down on top of the original print, the image that is produced is quite different from the original and opens new possibilities.

 

 

I had been printing a lino block in the studio and had some left over ink. Instead of cleaning the ink up straight away I decided to try printing my etching plates in relief, instead of the intaglio method I usually use. I also cut smaller pieces of paper than the size of the plate I was printing then laid them on to the thinly inked surface of the etching, selecting areas, to work in a new scale. I was really surprised with the results as I didn't expect the relief method to pick up so much detail. It gives much more of a patterned effect to the design, with fellow students comparing it to the Paisley Pattern.

I have also been producing new prints of 'Growth and Process (Slice)', again, flipping the plates and using new colours. From just laying the 3 prints down together it has started sparking ideas off in my head for what will come next.