I am trying to create a print for the Southwest Print Fiesta Print Exchange 2020 in Silver City, New Mexico -- an edition of 40 prints, on 8 x 8 inch paper, is due on October 1st. The pressure is on.
On Instagram
"Slightly Fake Figure"
final print
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
I used AI (artificial intelligence) to apply the style of Pavel Acevedo's print to one of my best drawings from last year.
I uploaded my drawing, and a JPG of one of Pavel Acevedo's prints, to Deep Dream Generator, a free online AI program. Deep Dream Generator then thickened up my thin lines, by applying the style of Pavel's print to my drawing. The whole process is articulated in the middle of the last blog post, including the elaborate post editing process.
*1*
February 19, 2019
*2*
Adric helped me create a 7 x 7 inch acrylic printing plate, using the laser cutter at QueLab hackerspace in Albuquerque, on September 17th.
The digital image first had to be --both "flipped horizontally" and "inverted" -- to create a plate that would print correctly.
The "flipped and inverted" 7 x 7 inch image
loaded up to the software on the computer
Adric plugging in the right laser cutting settings
Ready to cut on the laser cutter
Burning the image into the acrylic
Laser cutting
Almost done
Finished laser cutting!
The final acrylic plate,
on the laser cutter bed,
before dusting off
I don't know what I was doing
The acrylic plate had rough edges, so Adric sanded them off using the wood planer.
Sanding off the rough edges
SNAG: We used "extruded," rather than "cast," acrylic. So the heat of the laser cutter curled the plastic in the last step (probably a memory artifact of the extruding process), which was cutting the 7 x 7 inch image out of the larger sheet of plastic. We warmed up the back of the acrylic plate to soften it up, and then placed it under some weights for a while, to flatten it out. However the acrylic still slightly curled up at the left and right edges. This turned out to be a problem, as the plate cracked the third or 4th time we ran it under the printing press.
Trying to flatten the acrylic plate
using a heat gun and pressure afterwards
PRINTING
The inked up acrylic plate,
with Akua intaglio ink
The proof print
after running the plate through the press
CRACKED
The whole process was working great -- until the third or fourth run through the press, when the plate cracked. The pressure was not that much, but the plate cracked in the middle, and would have broken off eventually if we ran it through the press. Time out.
I took it back to QueLab and glue it to an 8 x 8 inch MDF board, using the original Gorilla Glue (Adric's suggestion).
I glued the acrylic plate to an MDF board,
using Gorilla Glue,
and kept it clamped down for 24 hours
The glue seemed to work, though there was a slight gap in the middle by the head, where the acrylic was not glued to the MDF board. This was the exact place that cracked however. So I squeezed in some more glue, and put the acrylic plate under pressure for 24 more hours.
On Monday, September 21st, I resumed printing.
Holland Hardie came in and helped me with the relief printmaking process.
Edition finished
September 22, 2020
Printmaking is a democratic art, and has long been a powerful tool of communication between cultures and classes, giving voice to even the most marginalized communities. In this critical moment we are all living in, and with an election upon the horizon, we encourage you to explore printmaking as a means of expression and resistance, and an agent of hope and change.
This exchange has been produced very quickly. Registration was open for little more than a week (August 12 to 21st). On August 28th they let us know that the edition size was 40 prints. They have to arrive in Silver City by October 1st, with glassine sheets between each print. The entry fee was $35.
UPDATE: Later I showed this print at Remarque Print Workshop for their New Mexico Invitational 2021 print show, April 9 - May 29, 2021.
*****
DISCARDED IMAGE
Originally I want to go 100% FAKE, and print an edition of the image below, mostly created with AI (artificial intelligence). However I thought that the Maya-like lines were too fine to print in relief. I might have used a photogravure process to conserve the fine lines, however wiping 40 plates before October 1st seemed like a tall challenge, especially since I do not have any experience with this process. Maybe next time.
I decided not to use this FAKE image
JJ did help me laser cut the above image into MDF, but I forgot to invert it. The cut was probably too shallow, but I still might have been able to make a print of it, using white ink on black paper. However the last time I used white ink on black paper it took 2 weeks to dry, and I don't have that kind of time.
Laser cut of the "un-inverted" image,
which would not print well,
unless I used white ink on black paper
In the FUTURE
If this works out I should be able to laser cut and make a lot more 8 x 8 inch prints on my portable press, right there at QueLab.
Great summary of your technique, trials and tribulations. Thanks to your patience, the prints look great. 40 is a pretty big edition. Congratulations.
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