The Press Gang

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The term ‘printmaking’ covers a variety of techniques and skills.  Each have different effects and can frequently be mixed in the same piece of work.

I use a number of techniques and media for my printmaking. For your interest I give below a very brief outline of some these. This is a far from exhaustive list of methods and what you want to do depends upon your experience and your imagination …

• Collography
• Drypoint
• Equipment
• Etching
• Ink
• Lino Printing
• Mixed Media
• Monoprinting

Collography

A technique whereby a collagraph plate is constructed using a range of different materials chosen for their contrasting textures.  I prefer to use a variety of materials: fabric, paper, corrugated cardboard, string, even leaves and grasses.  Many materials can be employed on the plate although metal and other hard materials must not be used as they will damage the press. These are glued down very firmly to the base plate and then coated with clear matt varnish.  The plate is then inked up and put through the press.

I prefer to print onto slightly damp paper as the plate will then emboss the image into the paper. The different textures used in the plate hold varying amounts of ink which gives an interesting tonal range. Smooth textures such as cereal packets will give a light tone; materials such as needlecord a much darker tone. A collagraph plate can be re-inked and used a number of times although, being made of materials like cardboard, its life is not as great as that of a metal etching or drypoint plate.

Drypoint

A drypoint plate is created by directly scratching the surface of a metal plate using special drypoint needles.  The plate is inked up and then polished.  Unlike lino printing, it is the scratched areas of the plate that retain the ink.  The most common metal for these plates is zinc or a zinc alloy. Copper is sometimes used too but, understandably, this is more expensive.  The plate is then put through the press and printed on to slightly damp paper.  Drypoint plates, in common with etching plates, can be re-inked and used many times.

Equipment

The main pieces of equipment I use apart from brushes are rollers and a press.

Rollers are used to apply inks in an even and efficient way, and also for hand rolling paper onto inked plates.  They come in a range of sizes and materials although the most common is a form of gel or rubber. The Press Gang’s logo is of a hand roller.

Presses also come in a wide range of sizes and types.  The press I use at home is a very standard roller press which passes the inked plate and paper between two large cylindrical drums. The force with which the pate and paper is squeezed as it passes between the rollers can be varied.  Our parents would recognise it as a sort of up-market mangle and it is the inspiration for The Press Gang’s name!

Etching

A complicated process that is not without risk!  An etching plate is made by masking areas of a metal plate with a special waxy substance which is then removed with scraping and scratching tools to draw produce the image.  Nitric acid is then used to ‘bite’ into the parts of surface of the plate exposed by having the waxy layer removed leaving the plate with a variety of different textures which will produce the image. Once this ‘biting’ has been completed the remaining waxy coating is removed with various solvents.

The plate is then inked and put through the press and printed. As with drypoint plates, etching plates can be re-inked and used many times.

Ink

I use a variety of inks especially produced for printing.  The range of colours is enormous and highly seductive.  I always want a new colour! Inking up the plate is a vital part of the printing process and uses a variety of tools; usually rollers and artists’ brushes, and I have been known to use a toothbrush too!  Different coloured inks are applied to the surface of the plate in different places to give the colours of the finished print.  Unlike some other printing processes, the techniques I currently use (e.g. collagraphy, drypoint, etching, monoprinting) require all the ink to be applied to the plate on one go and, therefore, permit the plate to be put through the press only once for each print.

Lino Printing

You may be familiar with this from your schooldays!  A plate is made by cutting and gouging the surface of a piece of lino using special lino cutting tools. The cut away areas will not hold any ink and, therefore, will not print. When the plate has been completed it is inked up with a roller and then put through a press. Interesting textures can be achieved according to how you cut into the plate and it really is not as simple as it may appear. 

The Press Gang’s roller image is from a lino print about eight inches square although it has been scanned and heavily manipulated in the computer before becoming our logo.

Mixed Media

Some of my work is best described a ‘mixed media’. Often a print will begin life as, say, an etching or collagraph but I will then work into it further with watercolours or, perhaps, more ink making it a unique piece of work.

Monoprinting

As its name implies, a monoprint is a ‘one off’ print and is as individual as a painting.  There are various different methods of monoprinting.  A method I use is to roll out a very thin layer of ink on to a smooth surface such as a sheet of Perspex or glass, or perhaps a metal plate.  I then lay a sheet of paper on top of this and draw on the back of the paper using a pencil or my fingers … anything really! The ink is picked up on the side of the paper pressed against the inked plate.

Other monoprinting processes include simply using rollers and ink to print directly on to plate which is then transferred to paper as described above. Alternatively, I may paint directly onto a piece of Perspex which is then carefully put through the press and the image is printed onto paper.

A monoprint is genuinely unique. Because it has not been etched, scratched or set out with glue it cannot be repeated, although it is sometimes possible to put the plate through the press a second time and produce faint version of the first print from the residual ink on the plate.

e-mail: Marian@ThePressGang.com