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.