Printing and Creating a Open Bite - Printmaking Day 2

For my second session in the printmaking workshop, we were able to print using the Zinc Plates we prepared the previous session.
To print using this plate, we had to first prepare the paper we were going to print onto. To do this, we dampened the paper, and rolled it in between two layers of blotting paper. Once i had done this, i was asked to apply a little amount of ink onto my plate, and covered the surface of my plate with it by spreading it with a piece of card. I had to ensure that ink was pushed into all of the grooves of my design. Once i had done this, i had to use newspaper to remove the excess ink from my plate, making it look as if there was no ink on the surface to start with, leaving the ink in the grooves of my design.
I then placed my plate onto clean sheets of newsprint on the center of the printing bed, my design facing upwards, placing my dampened paper on the top of it, with more newsprint and a blanket over the top. I then had to wind this through the printing bed without stopping, once my design had gone all the way through, i removed it and placed onto a drying rack for the ink to dry.

After i had done a few of these prints, i was then able to experiment with tissue paper. I repeated the process exactly the same, except when i placed my plate onto the printing bed, i put tissue paper on top, adding glue on top of the tissue paper which touches the dampened paper. I then continued with the same process.

Plain black print.

A print experimenting with ink and tissue paper.

After i had made multiple prints using each process, i was then able to create a plate for an open bite print. To do this, i drew a design onto the back of the zinc plate that i used whilst printing earlier in the workshop. I drew this design on the zinc plate using a black gel type liquid. After i had done this, i had to put a sheet of plastic on the other side of my plate, to protect it from the acid. I then dropped the plate into acid for 5-10 minutes then removed it and rinsed it, cleaning the black liquid off the pattern. After i did this, my plate was ready to use.

My plate before dropping it into the acid.

My plate ready for printing with.