Through the Venetian Window

My second print series, again using the drypoint technique, but this time working with two plates! You can see below my original drawing (top right) and the two plates I prepared for this print.

Top Left = print; Right = drawing. Bottom Left = Zinc plate. Right = PVC plate.

I liked the result, but in some ways it felt quite meek and the wall textures not entirely satisfactory. So I decided to work into the plates a bit more … resulting in the print below. Which frustratingly I liked even less …

Left = Print 1, Right = Print 2

The additional marks feel heavy and crass. Partly this time I left the ink more heavily on the plate, hence the stronger colours. But also I realised I’d etched too heavily into the metal plate used to print the red. But it turns out there is a magic trick to soften away your etching on the zinc plate. Strangely, the thing you use is lavender oil! I have no idea what the chemistry is that makes that work. Resulting in the next print in the series, as below

Bottom right = print 3

And yes it also has a little yellow. I’ve done this by inking up the metal plate very carefully with mostly red but also a small zone of yellow. Hence 3 colours from just two plates. Again I quite like the result and it’s definitely an improvement on print two. But I wasn’t feeling super enamoured with the result. Then a month or so later I had some spare time at the end of a class, so decided to knock out one more print for good measure. And this one I love.

Print 4 = My favourite

Darker, moodier and more atmospheric. The colours come together more strongly and make for a killer Venetian window! And with the addition of the last print, I even like the full series of the 4 prints again.

Through the Venetian Window. Series of 4 drypoint prints.