Here is a link to Kevin Haas' technical information handouts about printmaking:

www.wsu.edu/~khaas

Lots of good information there! Thanks, Kevin!

Inkteraction

Thanks to Mark P., I found an amazing site for print geeks (Mark's term; I think I might be one of them) called Inkteraction. It is a haven for printmakers, with forums, articles and opportunities. Mark also sent me an article from the site about plate litho. When I can find a link to it, I'll post it as well. That makes two papers on this process, so when I add to my Ox-Bow paper, I think I'll just detail printing them on an etching press. It was really nice to find this site.

These are the first two successful plates, after too many tries at exposure, of the new Dreamer in Training quilt. Sorry they're a little crooked up there! I'm still learning how to wipe them, but the good news is that I finally have an exposure setting that works, in both Photoshop and the lightbox. Now I should be able to scan, burn and print the rest of the drawings with the same settings.

It was a long road figuring out those exposures. Right when I thought I knew what to do, a tube seemed to have burned out in the lightbox. They aren't exactly easy to find, but I did, and after waiting almost a week to get them, the tube still didn't fire up. It turned out that each tube has a starter and one of mine was burned out. I found one in town for less than a dollar. Sigh. The silver lining is that now I know a lot more about my lightbox. And the two plates I burned after this odyssey are fine!

If this ever happens to you, (a tube stops working in your lightbox built by Dan Welden) there is a printmaking supply house in Oregon, called McClain's:

http://www.imcclains.com/ They sell the tubes you need. You can get the starters at Menards. I wish Daniel Smith would carry the tubes. Except now I have a lifetime supply, and the box will probably fall to pieces before I need one again.

Snowpants girl

For all of you out there who don't like the snow:

It was an incredibly beautiful day.

A Murder of Crows

For IF: The crows swarmed around the door, which was a portal to the other dimension.

I think I saw this in Busan

On another sweater note, I saw these prints and videos in, I think, Busan, South Korea. Some of the pieces were lithos, maybe, or maybe pen and ink, and some were videos of the sweater knitting itself. It was amazing to watch the sweater be created and unraveled. If I were more organized, I'd be able to tell you who the artist is. I'll keep looking.

Litho scan

For IF: She really needed a sweater, but these darn things clutching her head were in the way.

Sorry. Couldn't resist. This is actually a litho plate that I'l getting set up to print on an etching press. The crayon is too light, and I've had a little tusche trouble, as you can see. Who knew you had to wash/counter-etch a plate before you drew on it? That's another thing to add to my Ox-Bow paper. I hope I can post a print of this soon.

Check out my next post for real sweater art!