just as my studio closes for a couple months and takes a reprieve from the intense heat of summer in Florence I have finished the first round of printing for my latest mezzotint plate.
I present the Fugu Papilio....
To Date this has been my most ambitious print... primarily because of the detail and tonal range in it. I tried to push myself further with this print in trying to resolve a full set of tones and to create a real sense of shape and dimension. Sadly, I'm not so sure this scan does justice to the print, but maybe at the end of the day that is what really separated analogue and digital technique. Happily, this print really worked out well in my opinion and with the extra time really trying to tweak the ink consistency as well as taking more time in cleaning the plate before each impression the results started to show. I did make a change of ink for the last 2 prints I pulled to see if there would be some drastic changes in quality.... an experiment really. Sure enough the softness of the overall image started to dissipate into a stronger grainy texture. I think that when I continue the printing in the fall I'll return to my original ink blend and achieve better results.
As the studio closes for the summer I'll be busy at my home space and at a friend's studio rocking some larger mezzotint plates for upcoming designs. I'll be sure to post them as they progress. Ideally i'd like to be working at 30cm x30cm come fall,... possibly even a little larger at some point. More ambitious projects to come!
