"small"

Illustration Friday "small"

I guess you can see where my mind is at this week. Only a few more days until summer vacation begins, and I'm definitely ready for the break! Looking forward to having more time to work on my art projects. I am taking another printmaking course at the NH Institute of Art this summer, and have some ideas for new pieces. I was able to etch a Solarplate last week. but didn't have a chance to print it beyond a test print. A Solarplate is made by exposing a drawing (drawn on acetate) and a specially coated plate to a light source. The emulsion on the plate responds to the light, and hardens the areas that are not the image. Those areas blocked by the drawing are then washed away by gently brushing the Solarplate, and rinsing the plate with water. The trick is getting the correct exposure time by doing several test strips. I ended up only exposing the plate to light for 30 seconds. What's nice is that you can get a very detailed image that picks up all the values and lines of the original drawing.