Paper Printing

Before printing in the paper room for the first time, I planned out each print in terms of colour distribution and motifs, to help determine the printing order and save time. I used the black and white motifs put on screen as brushes on photoshop and a generic brush to show where watercolour would be applied in the background. Planning designs in advance was a new way of working for me but I feel that it worked quite well. I tried to use the full range of pigment colours more or less equally, and show all of the motifs at least twice.

Simple plans for use in the print room

When forming backgrounds I couldn't achieve dark enough shades with the watercolour alone, so I also used acrylics, sometimes watered down to give a watercolour effect. I tried to achieve different textures with the paint, and used different sized brushes to form a variety of marks. When painting my time was limited, but because I was loosely following my plans the composition and colour had already been chosen; this freed me up to be more spontaneous and try out different brush strokes, and gave the backgrounds more movement and energy. When it came to printing, the pigment had a more textured effect and the painted backgrounds were more plain than with the photoshop plans; this created quieter designs with better balance, that I actually prefer. 

Paper prints

In the left hand example above I added shells to lend more solid colour to the design, and to contrast with the detail of the sea urchin motifs. I made the green background in the middle seem like grass, by using a dry brush and producing vertical stripes with the paint; this adds to the illusion that these sea fans are trees. In the right hand example, it seemed appropriate to make the background marks circular, to mimic the snail shells, and I felt that the design needed more light space so used fewer of the textured blue motifs than planned.

When printing I didn't do any formal registering using acetate; instead I moved the paper under my screen before it was inked up, so I could see where the print would lie, before marking the position of the paper with tape. This saved time and still allowed me to accurately lay down the motifs. A couple of the motifs became slightly faint after a few prints, so I put the ink through the screen a second time to make them bolder. I found that working with the screen on a frame was easier than having to manually place it on fabric; it was simpler to see where the motifs would lie and visualising the overall effect was easier. 

Working with larger (A3) motifs definitely saved time and effort when it came to printing. I adjusted to working on a large scale sooner than expected, and suddenly A2 seems like a reasonably standard size to work to; previously my comfort zone was A4 or smaller. In future I want to push this further and start to produce a wider range of large and small initial research drawings.