Big Monotype Tests.................

 ....18 x 24 Canson watercolor paper with Speedball Block printing ink.   Using a 16x20 gel plate and trying to determine the amount of ink required for these.   It's quite different from using a smaller plate.

My first collagraph.........

 

......after watching many hours of videos on YouTube, I decided to try this process.  I was also curious if I could use my clay slab roller as a printing press.

I cut a small sheet of mat card and applied GAC-100 (an acrylic medium), LiquiTex Stucco paste and Golden Gloss Gel medium in various shapes.  After the mediums dried, I coated the entire piece with Krylon gloss spray.  The coating is to prevent the matboard from soaking up the ink.

I then applied Akua Intaglio ink and wiped it back with cheese cloth, because I have no scrim (a stiffened cheesecloth material).  Since the cheese cloth is quite flexible, I was careful not to over wipe the plate.   I placed the plate on a piece of matboard atop a silicone mat and then used a towel folded in quarters as a blanket (since I do not have proper felt print blankets).

I set the slab roller to the minimum height and rolled the table twice.

print on the left, plate on the right

The resulting print on 88# (189 gsm) paper embossed fairly well and certainly printed.  I soaked the paper in water for about 10 minutes.   The slab roller works, but obviously a real printing press would offer superior results.  Keep in mind that I have zero experience in making or printing collagraph plates, so this is all just an amusing experiment.

Freshly fired Crow-Kin.........

 .....no, not by DOGE, but bisque fired to a toasty approximate 1922-degrees F.   Next step is an oxide application, glazing and a final raku firing.  

Monoprints, monotypes....

 .....testing various inks with gel plates.  The blackest black appears to be Speedball block printing ink, followed by Cranfield Safe Wash Black relief ink.   I've tried Akua Carbon Black Intaglio ink several times now and still have yet to obtain satisfactory results - the opacity is not 100% and definition is not crisp.    All the inks mentioned are easily cleaned up with water and soap.   I love the Speedball ink, but the ink reactivates with any liquid medium,  so collage is not an option.

The Prophets........

 .....of Leng.  Stoneware with oxides and stains.  Roughly 8.5 -10 inches tall.

The Growing Resistance......

 

.......the Crow-Kin prepare to march!

"The Traveling Man"...................

 

...........ceramic, stoneware, raku-fired.   15.5" x 5" x 5".