Now that inktober is over I am in the process of adapting quite a few of the drawings I did in to prints. I want to try out different techniques and materials, since these are simple drawings and easy to adapt I think to almost any style of printmaking. Below the final print, painted with watercolors.
Below an image of the original drawing done for inktober and an overview of the materials. I used essentially a cheap Arteina drypoint tool and sand paper, to create a deeper plate tone in the water zone.
I have also acquired recently a pot of Hawthorn Stay Open Ink in Burnt Umber, that I was inching to try. They are slightly cheaper than Akua inks, and contrary to these, they allegedly work well also for linocuts (although I haven't test that yet). They are also cheaper than Caligo safe wash etching inks, which are my go-to inks for etching, have a great range of colors and are easily available in several online stores.
The color is beautiful and the ink worked fine during the entire drypoint process (inking the plate, wiping, etc). It also worked very well with the collagraph I tried (see the image below). But it was a pain to wash out. By comparison, both Caligo safe wash and Charbonnel aqua wash (which are the only two other etchings I've tried so far) are much easier to clean. That's the only disadvantage that I see with these inks, although I am planning to make a more comprehensible post with a comparison between some of the main etching inks.
I think I might try to get their Hawthorn Linseed Reducing Jelly to see if that helps with the cleaning process. I would definitely recommend, cleaning as much ink as possible with an ink knife and some old journal paper, before trying to actually wash out everything with soap and water.
Thanks for stopping by!
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