Ogunquit Thumbnail Sketch 2

May 26, 2013
Pencil on paper
3.25"x4.5"

Went on a family trip to Ogunquit, ME over the memorial day weekend and got out to make a couple of sketches.  I am pleased with this one enough to work with it and try to create a carborundum plate over the next few weeks.  Ogunquit is a wonderfully funny place as it is both beautiful and perfectly manicured for thousands of tourists.  It was a cold weekend so the crowds were not too bad and we had fun swimming in the pool and walking along the Marginal Way path.

Ogunquit Thumbnail Sketch 1

May 26, 2013
Pencil on paper
3.5"x5"

This is the first sketch I made over the weekend and I am not as happy with it as the second effort.  We were at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in ME and while the setting was beautiful, the views were not the best for what I like to draw, with million dollar homes on either side of the museum.  If you have not been to the museum it is worth the trip.  Especially if you like American art from the first part of the 20th century.

Carborundum Print

May 18, 2013
Carborundum print
5'x7"

Here is the left side of this diptych with the right side below.  These two may be framable and my intention is to show the two framed prints close together on the gallery wall.  I have figured out how to eliminate any 'scrim-scram' from the wiping process on the plate and can consistently pull decent prints with clean edges. 

I plan to make three new 5"x7" plates this week and will make some bigger plates in a few weeks, but need to get the plexi and want some new drawings for the bigger plates.  Hopefully I will have some new plates to show here in 2-3 weeks.

Carborundum Print

May 18, 2013
Carborundum Print
5"x7"

There is a randomness to the inking process I have created that I am struggling with.  One part of me loves it, but then there is another side that struggles with the happy accident process that I have created for myself. Down the road I may experiment with inking different parts of the carborundum with different values of ink, then inking the plate with a second color.  The more I work with these experimental little plates plates the more possibility I see with this process.

Carborundum Ghost

May 18, 2013
Carborundum Print
5"x7"

Printed the ghosts off of both plates and decided to share this one.  I used a light grey paper that was kicking around from a past edition and it lends this old photograph feel to this print that I like. 

Carborundum Ghost

May 19, 2013
Carborundum Print
4 5/8" x 8"

The first pull off of this plate was a huge disappointment.  I mixed up this beautiful black/red and then pulled a yellow across it, but forgot to blot the plate.  The first print was unrealized, but it let me know why it is important to blot the plate before printing with this odd inking process I have developed.  By blotting it with newsprint and rubbing it with a spoon I am take the lighter color off of the raised carborundum on the plexi plates.  I love this color combination and want to use it for the montpelier Smokestack plate I pulled a few weeks back.

Wrightsville Reservoir

May 17, 2013
Pencil on paper
4"x5.5"

On my way to work Friday I stopped by the Wrightsville Reservoir north of Montpelier to make a little sketch.  Now that the trees have greened-out I hope to embark on a summer series of drawings as I need some new material for prints.  This is an okay effort but I feel the image need more room to the right as it feels a little squashed. 

Carborundum Proof

May 12, 2013
Carborundum Print on gray Stonehenge
8"x4 5/8"

Managed to pull six successful prints of of the triptych plates for Christmas Day.  I printed them on gray Stonehenge paper with Prussian blue (with a little black) in the carborundum grit.  After wiping the plate clean I daubed white ink onto the plate and it created a nice contrast with the blue and the gray paper. 

The three prints shown hear are the best of the proofs i have pulled off of these plates to date! I may try to print the middle plate with a deep red/black for the details and a body color of yellow pulled over the plexi plate.

Carborundum proof

May 12, 2013
Carborundum proof on Gray Stonehenge
8"x4 5/8"

This middle plate printed really well and I feel confidant that i have the inking process down now and could try to pull an edition of this triptych.  I think there will always be some random qualities to these plates, but with the way I am applying the color I think i could make a little edition run. 

Carborundum Proof

May 12, 2013
Carborundum Print on Gray Stonehenge
8"x4 5/8"

Of the three prints for this triptych this is the lightest of the bunch, but when laid out together they look close enough to frame as a suite of three. 

Carborundum Ghost

May 12, 2013
Carborundum Ghost Print
4 5/8"x8"

I pulled a ghost print off of all three of the prints I pulled yesterday.  It is amazing how much ink the carborundum grit holds, even after a decent printing.  This is the middle print of the three triptych plates.

Factory Proof

May 5, 2013
Carborundum print on Plexiglas
4.5"x7"

This is the best of the pulls so far off of this plate.  Earlier, when I was rolling the ink on, the second color was printing smoother, but I was loosing details from the ink held on the plate by the carborundum.  The peach color mixed nicely with the blue to create some grays, yet there is still some of the bright color I mixed and put down on the plate with a dauber.

Factory Proof

August 5, 2013
Carborumdum print on Plexiglas
4.5"x7"

It is funny that the ghost prints are coming out really well off of these carborundum plates.  With this round of prints after my day at SPA last week i have made some serious progress in inking, wiping and printing these plates.  They are very atmospheric and becoming somewhat predictable to print.

Maine Coast Diptych

May 2, 2013
Carborundum Proof
5"x14.5"

Spent the day at SPA in Barre yesterday and figured out a lot about how to print these strange carborundum Plexiglas plates.  This is the ghost from two prints I pulled off of these two plates.  First, I managed to print multiple plates at once without them slipping.  Second, I managed to discover how to put the second color on the plates.  I was rolling the second color and that did not work very well and was unpredictable.  Then I daubed the ink on and buffed it down but it was not quite what I was looking for.  Then I daubed the ink on and blotted it off like a hand-pulled monotype.  This gives me more control and while you cannot see it well here, there is this wonderful light green-yellow color on the whit area's that makes the blue-green really pop.

This design is part of an ongoing Rorschach landscape series that I keep coming back to.  There is something trans formative about this style of print and I hope to get back to SPA soon to pull this again and then put the plates in the opposite position from how I placed them here.

X-Mas Day Triptych Proof

August 2, 2013
Three Carborundum Proofs
8"x14.5"

This was one of three prints I pulled off these plates and this was the best of the batch.  If the left hand plate was a little closer in value to the other two I might have had something worthwhile.  I have to say, I am thinking about cutting off the left-hand print and possibly framing the two on the right as a diptych.

Montpelier Proof

May 2, 2013
Carborundum Proof
10"x8"

This plate needs a lot more carborundum pulled across the lines for the trees, building and the bridge, but overall I am pleased with it.  I inked up the carborundum grit with the brown and then brought a nice peach tone across the plate but the two colors were too close together to create a contrast.  While these plates are a little craze to ink and print, with each effort I learn a little bit more about how to control the process.

Montpelier Proof (ghost)

May 2, 2013
Carborundum Proof
10"x8"

This plate still needs some work, but I am actually more pleased with this ghost print than the first pull off the plate. Hope to pull at least one small print at home this weekend of the X-Day middle plate with a different color combination.