The series of 6×6 and the even smaller prints for Small Print International have been great fun to do. The restricted size format resulted in a really interesting scaling down of the marks and stuck materials on plates. I even managed to control the pouring of varnishes on the 100mm square plates, and I’m sure that I’ll return to these in the future. In fact I’m planning to have one whole wall devoted to these prints in my Ropewalk exhibition this September.
I’ve been noticing that the plates are starting to deteriorate. This means that I’ll be lucky to get many more good prints from these plates. However, I’ve learned to accept this as a positive, as it severely restricts the number of prints, making each good one more precious and meaningful. If you’ve read some of my previous posts, you’ll know that I almost never produce editions – this inherent restriction forces me to move on from even my favourite printing plates, and onto something new.
Right now though, here are some more of the recent small prints.
The plate for this print was made with poured varnish and carborundum
Haberdashery edging material on the plate helped to produce this print. Something positive and negative going on!
Although I have previously printed this one in blues and blacks, the colours used here reminded me of rust and decay
I was really pleased with this one! Interesting textures, blue/green/black tones and a deep embossing
I’ll be posting a few more from this set in a few days.
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