On another collagraph method

Here is another method of making a collagraph with the inexpensive aluminum flashing tiles I talked about in a previous post. It's very simple and effective. The little movie included in this post illustrates it step by step, but here's a summary:

1. Draw directly on the plate (aluminum flashing tile) with Elmer's glue, or a brush dipped in the glue.
2. Shake carborundum grit over the wet glue.
3. Tip the plate up to shake off excess grit.
4. When the plate is dry, seal it with a layer of acrylic gloss medium (I realised after I made the movie that I missed out this step!).

You can then ink and print the plate in the regular way:

1. Use a brush or piece of card to drag ink across the plate. The carborundum grit holds the ink very well.
2. Wipe away the excess ink using a piece of tarlatan.
3. Place damp printmaking paper over the plate, then run it through the press.

For the slideshow, I inked the plate "a la poupee", which means to use different colours of ink on the same plate. The phrase has a beautiful origin. It literally means "like a child's doll", and refers to the way nineteenth century doll-makers applied colour to the surface of their life-like china dolls.

If you're thinking of signing up for the Interlochen printmaking classes in the summer, this is one of the techniques that we may cover (if there's time!).

Summer classes at Interlochen
On how to make extremely inexpensive drypoints & collagraphs

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