Back to the Mezzotint

After working on the mezzotint plate over the last week, I've taken another impression. Apart from a little more burnishing on the white water in the foreground I think that this is now ready to edition.

Mezzotint - 3rd State Impression 1. 200mm x 300mm.

Something Different

The mezzotint that I have been working on for the last month (see previous posts) is now at the critical stage where I need to think carefully about which areas I work on more and which I leave alone. I don't want to overwork it, so I've put it aside for a while and spent a couple of days cutting this small engraving.

As I don't have a book binding press to print with, I made a false bed from a piece of MDF the same thickness as the wood block so that I can run it through my etching press.

Strictly speaking it's not a wood engraving as it has been worked on a plastic substitute called Resingrave which I bought from TN Lawrence printmaking supplies.

Falco peregrinus

Engraving on Resingrave

126mm x 102mm

Edition of 50

£50.00 unframed. 

Available here

2nd State Proof

After working the plate for a couple of weeks after taking the first proof I'm now ready to take a second. So I was up early this morning and got the inks out. Having only limited space in my studio I'm not able to have dedicated clean and inky areas so I have to be more careful with keeping things apart. My usual work bench serves also as my inking and wiping table. My hot plate sits on a portable table and my waterbath sits beside my press table.

Inked Plate ready for wiping

The wiped plate on the bed of the press

 State II - Impression I

Much more progress now from the first proof I took (see the previous post). As I suggested I wasn't happy with the drawing of the ferns on the right hand side so I re-rocked this part of the plate and redrew them. They still need some more work to highlight the areas catching the dappled sunlight but I am now more pleased with the way that they are looking. The mid-tones on the bridge and area above the waterfalls I am ok with. The main areas for further work are now just on the water. The white water of the falls needs to be burnished much more so that they print as white rather than the dirty grey that they appear. I'm also not sure what to do with the sky - leave it as it is or burnish it paler. Time to put it aside, go out and mow the lawn and then come back to it later with fresh eyes.

1st Proof

After working on the plate fairly solidly for around a week now I've brought it to the stage where I need to proof it. Whilst I prefer to take as few proofs as possible, I find it very hard to judge the state of progress by looking at the plate alone. I am sure that there are some areas which will need much more work but equally I feel that some parts of the plate, particularly in some of the mid tones may be close to being as I want them. So I inked up the plate and took one impression.

The plate, inked up on the press bed. At 20 x 30cm this is the largest size that I can work at on my press.

1st state impression 1.

Not bad, the photograph seems to show much more definition than the print actually has and the sky above the bridge looks paler than on the print. The water below the falls needs more work to vary the tones as it looks a bit flat at the moment. I'm not happy with the bracken on the right hand side and may re-rock this out and start again.