RE: polymer gravure idea
Hey Susan, Perhaps this clarity isn't necessary, but just in case: you'll need a positive/transparency, not a negative for an intaglio print. Relief plates, however, require a negative. Some of my own early observations using solar plates: 1. You do NOT need OHP transparency film to get a good plate. Office Depot quality ink jet transparencies work extremely well and they dry in about 30 seconds. I think this statement is even more true for print-making-photographers vs. photographer-printmakers. So my suggestion is to pull out of piece of cheap transparency film, and draw on it, paint on it, or print a digital image onto it; and then expose it onto a plate. 2. As Chris pointed out, the aquatint screen is essential. Every plate I made without first exposing the plate with the screen has found its way to the trash. 3. Exposure times are very forgiving. Some images look nearly identical whether I exposed them for 1 min or 6 min using the same uv source. In general, however, the plates seem to do best with the shortest exposure possible--I'm not sure why, but this is my own limited experience. 4. Vacuum and quality contact print frames may not actually be advantageous. My fellow photographers are probably gasping right now, but I simply cant tell the difference between a plate made using a very good quality contact print frame and the cheap print frame I was given when I was taught this technique which consists of a piece of glass on top of fabric batting and then taped to a piece of cheap board. Perhaps it matters more with certain images. 5. Haven't tried it personally, but my printmaking friends tell me the plates can't be worked after exposure. I'm writing this after working my third 12-hour night shift in a row so I might re-write portions after I've gotten some sleep. Mark -----Original Message----- From: SusanV [mailto:susanvoss3@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 7:11 AM To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Subject: polymer gravure idea Hi, I'm impatiently waiting for my OHP and aquatint screen to arrive so I can start testing exposures and digineg output, etc. (and I just realized I'm supposed to wait 24 hours for the neg to dry arrrrgggghhhhh ). So while I'm waiting, I came up with a question for you who work with this polymer: Has anyone tried working on the plate after it's exposed and hardened? Is the material "carvable", or soft enough (meaning softer than the steel tool i'd be using), to inscribe or otherwise mess with in the way an intagio copper or zinc plate can be done? susan -- Susan Daly Voss www.dalyvoss.com
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