2. Laminating a photo-sensitive emulsion onto the wood. I've done
this using Du Pont's Riston, which gives an intaglio image, plus
grain effects from the wood, suitable for printing through an
etching press. The image on the wood-block itself isn't very
exciting to look at - it's blue and plastic-y, although it does look
quite nice if inked up and framed like that, instead of printing onto
paper.
If you want to take it further, you might find the following short
article helpful, which I wrote recently for the Newsletter of the
Printmakers Council (London). There have also been some very useful
articles on Riston in the quarterly journal "Printmaking Today"
published in the UK.
"Riston Wrinkles" by Tony Newby
Riston is a thin, UV-sensitive polymer film which is used for making
printed circuits. It also makes an interesting intaglio medium.
These brief notes are intended to whet your appetite for experiment
(or convince you it's more trouble than it's worth).
1. Riston is fiddly stuff. It has to be press-laminated onto a
degreased plate (or piece of wood, or whatever will give an
interesting texture and go through the press) in subdued (non-UV)
light. I've found that the lamination stage doesn't need darkroom
conditions, but beware of bright daylight.
2. On the good days Riston laminates on smoothly. Other times
produce "interesting" surface wrinkles, which may or may not enhance
your intentions. A thoroughly-cleaned plate and a light spray of
warm water or water/alcohol mix (Armagnac steadies the hand) usually
helps. Don't overdo the roller pressure - that tends to push the
Riston into ridges along the plate. On the press bed, the order of
layers is: plate - Riston - something smooth (like thin plastic, to
avoid impressing blanket weave) - blankets.
3. Prepare your artwork either by direct drawing onto a transparent
base (eg, Truegrain or other drafting acetate) or by collaging images
together, then photographing the finished design and enlarging onto
lith film for good dense blacks. A dot screen can give very nice
aquatint-like effects at the negative-enlarging stage - either the
legendary Asahi glass, now only available at great cost and not
actually all that special, or bought/found plastic media. A cheap
and cheerful alternative to the photograph/lith enlargement method is
to use a good photocopier and feed it with the correct kind of OHP
acetate (you will not be popular if your acetate melts onto the
drum!). This effectively limits you to A3 size. OHP acetate doesn't
yield as dense an image as lith film, but you can always clip two
identical acetates together, for a fraction of the cost of the
photographic process.
4. The Riston-laminated plate is exposed by passing UV light
through the plate-sized negative you have created. I use a 4-tube
tanning thingy acquired in a car boot sale for £12 (wear UV-safety
goggles, from your local chemist). Mercury vapour exposure units
with vacuum and timer are, of course, easier to use. An important
decision is the length of exposure. Longer exposures harden more of
the Riston film so that after development there may be an excellent
intaglio contained entirely within the polymer layer and no metal
exposed. Shorter exposures leave more Riston soluble in the Sodium
Carbonate developer and hence more metal is exposed; this then
enables you to add conventional (or Speedball-type) aquatint to the
plate.
5. Once the Riston plate has been made, I find the material
somewhat fragile. Print and clean like a conventional etching plate,
but handle with care to avoid chipped edges and a scraped surface.
It's not a medium that readily lends itself to subsequent
over-working with a needle. My preference is to do most of the
image-making at the pre-photographic stage, using collage, drawing,
and digital processes.
6. Du Pont's Riston film can be purchased from:Ms Sally Reed, La
Conchee, Les Rues, St.Saviours, Guernsey, GY17 9FN @ £22 (pounds
sterling) post-paid per roll 10' x 2'.
ENDS Copyright 1997 A.C.Newby
tony.newby@ndirect.co.uk
tel/fax:(+181)933-2424
snail-mail:64 Harley Road Harrow HA1 4XG UK