Printmaking: Etching

Etching is a print process where a design is scratched into the surface of a metal plate which is then inked up and printed in a press.

Before this is done you de-grease the metal using detol and chalk, making sure to rinse this off and dry it after. The metal is placed on a hot place to heat the metal and then coated with a type of wax called ground. You can then scratch in your image [in reverse] using an etching needle/scriber. For mine, I did a zombie Barbie as it was relevant to the ideas I was having for our current uni project [which I will post about in the future]. When you're finished you put your plate in an acid bath for about 10 minutes.

After this then wash the plate in water. Whilst you're doing this you could soak the paper you wish to print on in water too since it needs to be damp to absorb the ink, so make sure you use a paper with a decent gsm! Ink up the plate using oil based ink and cut card, making sure to press the ink into the groves that you scratched in, then use scrim and tissue paper to remove excess ink.

The type of press used is a roller press. Take your soaked paper out the water and squeeze out the excess by using a rolling pin over the paper in between several other layers of paper. Then place your plate face up on a sheet of tissue paper on the press, then your prepared paper, another sheet of tissue paper and finally etching press blankets. Turn the wheel or handle to operate the press and then your print is done! Leave it to dry and repeat as many times as you like! Here are some photos of the prints I made during our induction session:

Printmaking: Fabric Printing

Following our screen printing induction, we were taught how to print onto fabric using the screen technique. Again, a two layer image was given to us, and our teacher had exposed our screens for us just to save time, but I have a post about screen printing that explains how! --> http://amberatlantis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/printmaking-screen-printing.html The only difference is the screen mesh is 43tw to let more ink through and the image is exposed for longer since fabric absorbs more ink. 

Pigments are mixed with one of 3 binders:

• Transparent for keeping the colour the same saturation - great for printing onto light coloured or light weight fabrics
• Opaque T binder which can be used as white or to create pastel colours - ideal for printing onto dark and/or heavy weight fabrics
• Opaque KP binder - Used for printing luminous shades onto dark fabric

We pinned our fabric down to keep it flat and in place when printing, making sure any creases are ironed out before hand. Just like screen printing, you apply a generous amount of ink at the top of the image and then use a squeegee at a 45 degree angle to pull the ink towards you and covering the stencil. Make sure each layer is dry before you apply the next one - you can use a hair dryer to speed this up if you are pushed for time!

When all layers are applied and dry we seal our design using a heat press (although you can also use an iron) and remove the emulsion from the screen using cleaning solution and a jet wash.

  

Skills Rotation: Photography

Photography was the workshop that I was most excited to take part in by far. I had never had a proper photography lesson in my life, but I have had a passion of taking pictures for several years. I got a DSLR camera for my birthday last year (Nikon D3100), and I was eager to learn how to use it properly! 

We were given the theme of 'Street' and was told to focus on a subject relating to this. For the first two weeks we went on a self guided exploration in the town surrounding our college to take photos. On the first shoot I decided to focus on urban decay, and more specifically areas where posters / stickers had been put up then torn down:

I was moderately happy with my photos, I feel that I could've been more inventive with angles but I wasn't too fussed as the first shoot was only to get ideas going. On my way back to college I bumped into my friend, Dan, and he told me to take a picture of him walking. This made me think about fitting the theme of identity in with street, but in the end I didn't carry out this idea. 

The second time I went out I was photographing some more decayed posters near a park, and on the way back I came across a telephone pole that wires had fallen down onto a tree next to it. I thought this looked like the tree was wired up, and I could link the concept to my ideas in other lessons as I was looking at neo-futuristic imagery subjects and forests. Therefore I decided to create my street series around the tree on the street: 

In the third week we worked into prints of our favourite photos using art materials and techniques such as collage, paint and stitching.

The last week was probably my favourite part of the rotation, as we learnt how to make photograms. Our teacher showed us how to use an enlarger to expose objects onto photo paper by focussing the light and altering the aperture. For my photograms I decided to use the same barbie doll I used in the plaster moulds rotation (http://amberatlantis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/skills-rotation-plaster-moulds.html) as well as some ivy and twigs.  

Once the objects had been exposed to the light on F-11 for 10 seconds, I put the paper in developer solution and then into a series of water baths to wash off the chemicals. This was done under red light in the dark room, I just took the photo to the right after everyone was done. Since I want to incorporate photography in my career (I photograph live gigs outside of college), the tutor showed me some more advanced techniques, such as painting onto the paper with a paintbrush dipped in developer solution, and creating handprints with the developer too!

Here are my final photograms presented in my portfolio (apologies for the terrible quaility and horrible lighting haha) :