What happens if ...

 My friend Sheila came over last week so that I could show her how to do gum arabic transfers, taught to me by my chum Sue. The whole idea is to use a crisp black and white image produced on a photocopier. This becomes the printing plate when gum arabic is used to bond the oil based ink to the black areas of the image. Sheila used one colour and placed her images on pages that may turn into a book. It was great to see her excitement of something new.

After she left I looked through my stack of photocopies and found a set from a photo I took at the Natural History Museum in Oxford. I'd already split the image into CMYK separations and photocopied each one in black and white. I've never tried printing more than one colour before but I had enjoyed seeing her excitement of the process so tried a four colour print the next day, starting with the yellow and then overprinting with magenta (above) trying to get the registration spot on. This was quite tricky as my photocopy was large and when you're wrestling with a wet piece of paper it goes where it wants to go and not always where you want it to.

 I then added the cyan layer but did not bother to add the black final layer as it was getting messy. There is a vague sense of a coloured image but too much ink was absorbed into the white areas and it was not clear enough for me. This also happened to the prints I did on a workshop I ran last year and it has dawned on me that perhaps the photocopying paper is too thin, hence the way it sucks up ink and is reluctant to release it. All my photocopying is done at the local library so it could be something about the paper quality they use. I'm trying out a couple of other sources this week to see if the print quality improves. I am definitely going to

                                      
be doing some more four colour trials. In the past couple of months I have not posted much about things I am making, mainly because I am just enjoying 'doing' things without a plan. I've been making a stained glass panel (a disaster)and doing lots of painting for collage work and getting on with print sampling, practising my drypoint etching skills and just having fun finding my own rhythm. I made this shoe plate weeks ago and did a quick print on an old book page. Now I've made a pair of them to work with and their small size reminded me that I was going to suggest some sort of print exchange this Spring. I was thinking if enough people were interested it would be good to make a small print, edition it and everyone gets a copy of everyone else's print. I like the idea of the challenge but with no pressure and done in any print medium. If anyone else is interested just leave a comment or e mail and let me know if the idea appeals. No worries if not, I am happy pottering in my shed just thinking 'what if I do that....'