THE QUESTION I AM ASKED MOST FREQUENTLY IS “HOW DID YOU DO THAT?”

The photograph (see A), is of the final print, a woodcut entitled: Radiant Matter. I am asked, pretty often, “How did you do that?”—meaning how did I get four colors on the print with one run through the press.  So there is a method to this madness. My woodcut has a carved pattern and I started by inking the oval shapes yellow, and a light green around them (see B). Then I added blue ink around those ovals (see photo C). Had I left it like that, and run it through, it would have printed as those three distinct colors—yellow, green and blue. Instead, to integrate these colors a light green ink was rolled on to a plexiglass  (the same size as the woodcut)—(see video). The BFK paper (now inked green) is ready to be set in position over the inked plate. This was a very intentional use of the colored green ink so as to give the final print a unified, overall tone. Finally, the paper is placed directly on the woodcut and in position (matching up the corners so that it is registered correctly). When the paper is run through the press and then pulled away from the inked plate, what is revealed is the final print—with four colors. This print has a definite glow that otherwise would not have happened without this process. Sort of magic.

 

SOLD
RADIANT MATTER
Woodcut: Edition Variable I/II
Image: 19.6” x 24”
Paper: 22” x 30”

B

C