We made a laser-cut intaglio for the upcoming Dialogos E Interpretaciones print exchange (due March 31st) at "Taller Sin Miedo" in South Tucson. I used a drawing that I made in El Paso recently.
David Lesser helped me cut my image out
on the Trotec laser cutter at Xerocraft
in "relief mode," from a raster "tif" file --
that way darker lines were deeper cuts
All the materials laid out for doing an INTAGLIO print
-- including Jack Richeson Baby Press --
paper soaking in water in tub
Gonzalo filing down the edges
of the acrylic plate
Green tape to "register" acrylic plate
We first soaked Rives BFK paper in water in the tub,
and then laid it between newsprint sheets
to drain off the excess water
We printed on the "10" setting
Gonzalo inked and wiped the acrylic plate
with cheese cloth
Pulling the first print off the press
Black looked terrible!
So we switched to Raw Sienna
oil based etching ink
Raw Sienna was warmer and more transparent,
which made a better print
Dialogos print exchange,
(another YouTube version)
A big thanks to Gonzalo Espinosa, who did all the technical work and guided me through the process.
There is an Instructable about laser cutting an anodized aluminium plate to make an intaglio print. I suspect that one can get deeper cuts in the clear acrylic plate that we used, which would hold more ink (if there is an advantage to that).
My print is traveling with the show:
Schedule for Traveling Exhibit of Dialogos E Interpretaciones IV
- CAS Gallery, Miami University, College of Arts and Sciences, Miami FL: June 2nd - July 17th, 2015
- Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA: August 10th - September 10th, 2015
- Universidad de Caldas, Palacio de Belles Artes, Manizales, Colombia: September 2015
- UNC- Pembroke, Pembroke, North Carolina: September 21st - October 21st, 2015
- Redlands University, Ann Peppers Hall, Redlands CA: January 5th - February 6th, 2016
- Mission Grafica, San Francisco, CA, March, 2016
- University of South Dakota, I.D. Weeks Library Vermillion, SD April, 2016
I notice that the show is traveling to Mission Grafica, at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. I used to run the life drawing sessions there in the mid 90s.
running the life drawing sessions
in 2008,
at the Mission Cultural Center
just below Mission Grafica
For the Horned Toad print exchange, I did a relief print after laser cutting one of my drawings into wood. The white ink on black paper made a whole different impact.
Laser cut relief print,
white ink on black paper