Gigantic Litho....The color runs...almost done.

The last in progress shot of this print was the black and white "key" printed.  It was a 10 hour day of printing.  My good buddy Wes helped me pull an edition of 35 prints. This is where I left off...

  I've been working for about 2 weeks now getting all the color printed.  The print is almost finished with only two more colors to go...check it out...

I ignored my instincts to print from light to dark when I started the color which turned out to be a pretty big mistake.  Printing light to dark prevents any offset ink from contaminating the next color.  I started with this orange which caused quite a few issues when returning to print later lighter colors.  DON'T DO WHAT I DID...print light to dark.  Here is the first color layer...Orange.

 As you can see...the second color was this grey/cream color...the offset of the previous orange layers was a big problem...I had to clean my ink slab ever 5 prints or so as the orange ink infiltrated my grey/cream color turning it into a muddy mess.

 The third color was kind of a gross green for the upper portion of the image and the outside of the cloak on the figure.

 The fourth color was a second gross green which filled the inside of the cloak and overlapped the green at the top to create the rays of light from the halo.

 Next was a yellow layer for the inside of the halo and a skin tone for the hands.  These two areas of color were far enough away from each other on the plate that i was able to ink and print them simultaneously... which saved me a whole day of printing.

 The second to last color was 2 reds printed from a photo plate.  The vultures head was drawn on frosted mylar while the flats were adhered to the same mylar using rubylith lightfast film.  A blend from dark red to red fills in the background overlapping the orange and the rendering of the vulture head adds detail and texture.

 The final color will be a brown printed from a photo plate.  The rendered color layer will be drawn on frosted mylar and will cover nearly the entire image.  This layer will fill in the clothing, parts of the head, hands and background and will serve to pull all the separate color flats together for a more cohesive final print.  I'll be sure to post the final print when it is finished...but for now...here are some shots of the rigorous printing process for some of the colors.

Stay tuned for the final version...should be done in the next few days.

Printing a lithograph for the "Krampus" Portfolio Exchange

Chine-collé Magic!!!

GIGANTIC LITHOGRAPH

What was I Thinking...I just began work on a humongous lithograph...28" x 42"...Here we go...

Gonna need a bunch of these...

This is the black and white image printed on Somerset Satin paper...now I have the daunting task of filling this bad boy with color...wish me luck.

Back to the Mezzotints!

So after my adventures in lithography I have come back to the mezzotint world.  Only now...I want color!  I took what I was doing with my lithographs and found a way to get a similar result with my mezzotints...I began to Chine-collé photo litho elements into my mezzotint/aquatints...Check em out...

Here are some of the four color process photo litho elements printed on Kitakatat paper..
These will be cut out and chine-colléd once the mezzotint plates are completed...

 Here are some of the plates I've been working on...

 I proof my plates to make sure I have all the values I want...Next up is the fun part...Editioning!

 Here are the final prints...All of which are a combination of Mezzotint, Aquatint, Lithography and Chine-Collé.

 "Bundle Of Joy, Bundle Of Sticks"

 "On Earth As It Is In Heaven"

 "The Redundant Natur Of Evil"

 "Abaddon"

"Baptéme Du Feu"

Frans Masereel Centrum in Belgium!!!

I had the unbelievable opportunity to spend two weeks in Belgium at the Frans Masereel Centrum making some prints.  While there i completed a lithograph and a mezzotint...Here are the in progress shots...

 Lithography in Belgium!!!!!

 I need to draw more animals...This monkey is insanely fun to draw

 getting there...I couldn't get my hands on any "stones" brand crayons so I've been using Korn's...Im not a fan...Maybe it is the cold weather...but the Korn's are brittle and keep cracking.

 Completed drawing ready for autographic ink...

 Autographic ink? CHECK!

 Rolled up in black and ready to etch...

 I tried something new with this print...I printed the key image twice on top of itself...The first time I printed it in a greenish brownish swampy looking color...the I printed it right on top of itself in black...It was a pretty efficient way to get two colors out of one drawing...I will say this though...if you are going to try this...stretch your paper extremely well and USE PIN REGISTRATION!!!!

 FInished...my first lithograph in another country!!!

Oh yeah...I also made this little mezzotint while I was there...Though this was a finished print...I have a feeling it's just a study for "bigger" things to come.

They also let you put this sweet chop on all your prints!!!

"Stockholm Syndrome"

I am beginning a lithograph that will probably be the most technical print I have made in a long time...I plan on drawing multiple layers of rendered color rather than using large flats of color.  Here are the in progress shots for "Stockholm Syndrome"

 Beginning the drawing...these little birds are a ton of fun to draw...

 Almost time for the autographic in...This step actually takes the longest.  While using autographic ink prevents me from using a tone of crayons in the solid black areas...it is also super greasy.  I have to be extremely care when applying it in order to avoid destroying the hours of drawing i just completed.  I paint it on with a small paint brush which is tedious and nerve-racking.

 I carefully completed the image and it is now ready for the first etch.

 Here is the stone inked up in black and ready for the second etch.

 Printed in "Trophies Brown" on Somerset Satin paper.

 Now to begin the color...I have drawn the first color layer (Yellow) on frosted mylar with stabillo pencils and exposed the drawing onto a photo plate.

 The second color is a greenish blue which overlaps the yellow o give me a variety of blues, greens, and yellows.

 A medium brown is printed to flesh out the patterns of the stained glass window in the background.

 I have now printed an antique brown over the entire background leaving out the birds, the figure in the foreground, and the flames.

 A layer of magenta rendering is added to give more dimension.

 Three skin tones help to create dramatic lighting on the female figures face.

 two more colors help to add tonal range to the figures clothing and hair.

 A deep red-brown push the depth and space around the figure.

 A flat grey is added to give dimension and detail to the flames...

Finished!  Man...that was a lot of drawing and a lot of printing...15 colors