Drypoint Print student examples

Student Example #1

In this printing project, I was discover how to make my print into the best it can be. This project had many steps. Throughout this entire process I learned many new things that I have never experienced before.

First, I selected an image. I chose this image because I thought it was a good fit for what Mr. Laurence was looking for and because I love how the background is so dark, but the white marble monument is bright and stands out. Also, I took this picture- it isn't off the internet. This image is of the Jefferson Monument in Washington DC. Next, I focused on editing it on Photoshop. I had never used this app before, so I was very confused about how it functions and how to work it. After messing around and trying different buttons for a few minutes, I figured it out, and I adjusted the the ratio to 2:3, then sharpened the image set the radius to 7px, adjusted the threshold, and made the image 9 by 6. These edits made the image the correct size to fit on the paper and it made the lines really pop so that I knew where to carve. I taped a piece if clear plastic over my edited image, and I was ready to start the carving process.

My next step was carving the plastic. I could see the lines of my image clearly, so I started scratching the outline of the object with an etching needle. I struggled with keeping my lines straight, so I used a ruler to assure that they were as straight as can be. I also struggled with doing the top part of the monument because I couldn't use a ruler as the lines weren't straight. I retraced it many times, but the top part was still very uneven. Next, I used sandpaper to scratch the top part of the image to make it dark. I also rubbed sandpaper across the trees, but I made sure to keep the outline clear so that the trees wouldn't get lost in the sky. For the rest of the image, I simply traced what I saw onto the plastic. This was very different from carving in the linoleum print because the tools were a lot smaller and each etch was more important. In the linoleum print, I spent most of the carving time on the background, but for this one, my time was devoted to the little details that resulted in a better looking print.

Following the carving step, I moved to the inking and printing process. I first used black ink and applied it to my piece of plastic with a brayer. I used cotton pieces to wipe most of the ink off, so that it would only remain in the places I carved. After a few minutes of rubbing the plastic, I then wet a piece of paper to print on. I let it sit for a few minutes in the water then dried it in the paper stack. Next, I set my plate under the lifted felt blanket into the printing press. I carefully placed the piece of paper over it, and lowered the felt blanket and gently turned the roller towards me to apply pressure to make the image appear on the plate. This was my first print. It came out a little darker than my liking, so on the next one, I followed the same steps but made sure to wipe the plate for longer so that the final print wouldn't be so dark. I wasn't too happy with my first two prints, so I decided to do a third one. I did it in blue instead of black, and I loved the turn out much more than the black prints.

Next, I water coloured the second print I made. I really only used three colours: grey, blue, and green. Because this picture was taken at night, the background was a deep shade of blue. I added grey to the shadows to make the white parts shine even more, and thenI painted the trees green.

Looking back, there are definitely things I would do differently. First, I would spend more time on the carving part, as this is the foundation for the whole piece. When I did the etching part, I think I rushed it because I was anxious to move on to the ink and printing press parts. Also, I wouldn't have painted the trees green. I don't know what made me do that... the trees in the image are darker- almost black. Overall, I think that this was a good way for me to experience drypoint printing, and I know way more about this subject from when I started.

 

Student Example #2

For the plexiglass printing project, the first thing we had to do was find an image to carve into the plexiglass to show as the final print image. When being assigned to choose a location, I chose London, specifically the Big Ben, because I was born in London and have many fond memories there 

You can see the original image I chose in the first picture above. I started by editing the picture to change it into black and white and increase levels of things such as contrast and sharpness and lines. After doing that, I made sure the format was 6:2, the size of the plexiglass, and printed out the image which you can see in the second image above. Once having done that, I placed the printed image on the table and put the plexiglass plate on top and aligned it with the image. I then taped the edges down to be able to continue carving without the plexiglass moving.

After that, I took the carver tool and began tracing the Big Ben figure. You have to use the tool and press down while shifting your hand to be able to create an impact on the surface. Once I had completed the Big Ben, I moved onto the other architecture pieces in the image. After that, I only needed to do the clouds/sky and the water. For the clouds, I used a small square of sandpaper and used to edges to rub in circular motions of the plexiglass to create a foggy effect. then for the ripples of the water and the wind in the sky, I used the tool with widespread wires and scraped that on the surface. Once I was happy with my carving, I removed the paper underneath and moved onto printing.

I started by placing some of the black printing ink and placed it on the glass palette. Next, I used a brayer and got an even coat of the ink on the brayer so that I could continue by rolling the ink onto my plexiglass, brayer to carved side. After having done that, I noticed the lines of the carving weren’t filled with ink. But when I used the dirty cloth to rub the ink in, it filled all the cracks of the carving. Then I changed sides of the cloth and kept rubbing a few more times so that the background was mostly clean and the ink was still in the carved parts. I then used a clean cloth to fully clean the background. Now my plate was ready for printing

But first I had to place a sheet of paper into the bucket of water. By doing this, the fibers of the paper expanded and would allow the printing process to be easier. Once the paper waited in the water for about a minute, I removed the sheet and placed it inside a bigger stack of paper and then closed the stack to press down. When reopening the page with my paper, the paper was no longer wet and it was ready for printing.

Next, I went to the printing machine and placed my inked plexiglass on the bottom, carved side up, and then placed the damp paper on top of that. After that, all I had to do was recover the plexiglass and paper with the machine’s layer of cloth. I then continued by turning the wheel so that the section where I place my work got pushed through the machine. You could tell where your work was when the turning became more difficult. Once my work was on the other side, I lifted the machine’s layer of cloth and peeled back my paper to see my first print as you can see above in the fourth image.

I then repeated the same process again, except after printing it, I grabbed a watercolor palette. After that, I began to use the watercolor to color in the second print. I used a sunset effect in the sky to make the piece more interesting and captivating. You can see my watercolored print above in the last picture.

A success I had during this project was correctly printing as well as using watercolor to enhance my prints. I think that I followed all the steps of the printing process well to result in my final prints. From there, I further improved my piece by using interesting and peaceful colors in the watercolor section. I believe by adding the watercolor, it added a lot more value to my piece.

A struggle I had was the carving. The technique was strange because I had never done something like that before, and I didn’t realize you didn’t have to carve deep for the lines to show. So I ended up carving pretty deep lines in the Big Ben which now instead of a sketch look, it now looks more like a clip art picture. The other areas were okay, it was just the Big Ben section specifically because it was the first section I carved. Also since the skyline shows the Big Ben as very as away, this meant I couldn’t add a lot of detail to the Big Ben. However, overall, I am happy with how my piece turned out.