Variations : Masks and Multicolours - simple multilayer prints

At last a chance to experiment and have fun after the frustration of the previous exercise. I did this first batch of prints at Leeds Print Workshop using an etching press and Hawthorn 'stay open' inks. I used the process colours, yellow, cyan and magenta as well as indigo. The beauty of the process colours is that they are translucent so colour mixing occurs as layers are overprinted. They also don't tend to go muddy and make sludge brown after several layers of mixing. 

I started off by creating some masks by cutting figures out of magazines - I only had one of each figure so that limited the possibilities somewhat but I enjoyed moving the masks around and reversing them in a haphazard fashion and this created some exciting prints. I got so absorbed in the process I wasn't really recording what I was doing - just reacting to what was on the print when positioning subsequent layers - I would not be able to repeat these images again without putting a great deal of thought into how I had layered them the first time. However, I really like this way of working spontaneously rather than meticulously planning. 

Registration for subsequent layers of overprinting was achieved using a registration sheet marked with the size of the plate and the size of the paper. However - the accuracy of registration is variable from print to print - it seems no matter how careful I am in trying to place the paper I still can't consistently achieve accurate registration. I suspect this will take a lot of practice.

Overprinted masked print in process
yellow and indigo - the mask of the dancer
moved slightly leaving a white area

Overprinted masked print using only
process yellow - ghost print of
the first layer and then reversal of the
masks from the yellow and indigo print
printed using the yellow transferred to the
reversed mask

Multilayer print with the same masks in
process yellow, process magenta
and indigo with areas of white paper
showing

Multilayer print using the same colours
as above with ghost printing in indigo
achieved by reversing masks

On some of the images, oblique lines started to appear on the figures. It took me a while to work out where these had come from. Initially I thought tat I must have creased the mask as I placed it on the plate - but this was not the case. In fact, the lines had come from the ink on the magazine paper - the model in the photograph was standing behind a series of  mets railings on a staircase. This was an interesting development - adding an extra dimension to the masked print. 

A less successful print - the mask stuck
and had to be torn away (too much ink
for the thin magazine paper to cope with)
Oblique lines on the standing figure are
from the original magazine photograph 

I really like the texture on this print and the halo around the figures (although
this might actually be considered a less successful print precisely because
of what I like about it!) - these are 'ghost' images (not first pass prints) on
coated paper. 

Great colour mixing on this print - multilayering the translucent process colours
yellow, cyan and magenta

Next I played around with texture a little bit (more about texture in the next section). As I was using oil-based ink, when cleaning the plate I did not wipe it completely dry so that when rolling ink onto it the wet patches resisted the ink (in effect the opposite idea to a wax resist when using watercolours) - this created some interesting effects. I also tried wiping away ink and drawing into it - although this was less successful on this occasion - the ink was extremely tacky - it needed an additive to make it wipe better.  

Multilayer print with texture from
partial wiping of water resting oil based
ink plus masking and multilayers

Experiment with wiping, texturing and drawing into ink

Rolling a second contrasting colour directly onto the plate with the patches of ink from the resist after the water had dried gave a pleasing texture. I subsequently used masks in simple geometric shapes when overprinting. Reversing the shapes and overprinting several times resulted in some interesting effects with the edges of some shapes appearing more prominent than the body. Again with the process colours being designed for overprinting, the underlying texture showed through. 

Multilayer textured and masked monoprint. Registration is poor but I really like the texture from the
'water resist' (inculpate wiping away of water when cleaning the plate) and direct rolling of a second colour
(yellow) over this first layer

Multilayer masked monoprint - there is less texture on this one but I like the
red/cyan haloes of the geometric shapes on the yellow achieved by multiple
reversals of the masks and 'ghost printing' - registration is not great unfortunately

What I learnt

• I enjoy working in a spontaneous way with monoprint and developing the print in response to each layer
• Incompletely wiping water from the plate before rolling oil based ink creates an interesting 'resist' texture
• Multiple reversals of masks can create interesting effects
• Hawthorn 'stay open inks' really need an additive to wipe easily
• The ink from a printed mask (such as magazine photos) can transfer to your print
• Process colour inks are great for colour mixing with over-printing

Things to work on

• More ways of creating texture
• Registration still needs more work - designate one corner and always register to this or find another way of registering prints.