I have been trying to find a way of perfecting a chine collé technique for around three years (yes, really!). I have probably read dozens of articles and blog posts by other printmakers, outlining their preferred technique. These have involved diferent types of glues and ways of applying paper or pieces of metallic foil to the plate, just before printing.
Now, thanks to a suggestion from Rob Stangroom @robstangroomart on Instagram, I have found a technique that works consistently for applying both decorative and tissue papers (metal leaf is a different story). It works like this:
1) ink up the plate to be printed in the normal way
2) cut or tear the paper to be applied and place it in position on the plate, wrong side up
2) use a spray bottle to spray water over the whole of the paper area
3) sprinkle powdered wheat paste over the moistened paper
4) print immediately using an etching press
An additional advantage of this method is that if the glued paper is left to dry out, the glue can be re-activated by again spraying with water. I’ll be trying this soon with metal leaf. The tricky thing here is getting the surface of the slick leaf wet enough to accept the powder glue, and keeping it away from the rest of the plate as much as possible.
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