Printing suspense

A couple of weeks ago I started a course in printing at the lovely La Seis Cuatro studio. I’ve been drawing a lot over the past few weeks and it has been amazing to move my drawings into another medium. It has also been an exercise in suspense, as it turns out it takes a long time to make just one print!

We’re working in drypoint printing and after the first class I had an etching of one of my recent still life drawings …

And then I had to wait one whole week, until my next class, to make a print. The suspense!

We print by inking up the PVC plate …

… and then passing it through one of these beasty presses. If you’re lucky there might be a cat sat on top too! (The famous El Gato de la Seiscuatro)

And voilá, through the press, (el torculo) .. and the result …

My first drypoint print.

And experimenting a bit more with heaviness of ink.

Oh and not only a selection of prints, but also a LOT of new Spanish vocabulary! By far the hardest and most intense Spanish I’ve had to deal with out here so far… proud I seem to have understood.

Might call the series above “Who ate all the pies?”