Leonard at Work

I must admit, the method I used for its creation differs quite a bit from the traditional drypoint method. Drypoint prints are usually made by incising an image into a copper or aluminium plate, or even a plexi-glass or perspex one.

For this, I used a sheet of card which is coated on one side with a glossy finish and I used a compass point, a blunt biro pen and a scalpel to incise the image before inking and printing.

For the really dense dark areas, I cut into the surface of the card and peeled away the glossy surface to expose the nap of the paper underneath.

I then used a brayer and soft cloth to apply the ink to the plate, working it into the incised marks and then buffing it off the surface.

I ran it through a printing press a few times until I was satisfied with the result and before the plate began to become unusable. With each print, the incised marks begin to gradually close up and cannot receive any more ink.

This work is a drypoint print using an old reference photo of my Grandfather at his place of work, obviously on a break, given the smile and the cigarette.

This is the same man depicted in my painting 'Broad Shoulders' in another area of this site.

The plate. 

The print

The reference photo

Note also the dark band around the whole figure. This was initially an error which I decided to make into a feature. Unfortunately, I had incised some words around the figure without taking account of the fact that the printed image is in reverse to the image on the plate which I only discovered on the first pull. This led me to cut and peel the plate surface and re-ink it to achieve the main image, which is now framed and on my living room wall alongside the painting 'Broad Shoulders'. (see link above)