The making of a print...

I regularly work with a variety of printmaking techniques, one of my favourites being collagraph. This was a plate based on some sketches gathered out and about around Sutherland... and a wee look at the process that goes into each print:

The prepared block ready to be inked up...
 

Ink is applied with a spatula in a layer across the whole surface...
 

Then wiped back until just a thin coating remains, trapped in the textural surface of the block...
 

The block is laid on the press with a sheet of dampened paper on top, tissue paper and thick wool blankets...
 

It is then wound through...
 

And at the other side its time to carefully peel back the paper and see how the image has printed...

The print is complete and will be stacked between tissue paper and weighted boards for a few days to dry.