'Trio'prints

This post will add a little detail to some social media posts I’ve been making over the last few weeks.

I’m always searching around for new (to me) ways of making prints. I also seem to be making a slow and stealthy approach to doing some actual painting. As described earlier on here, I have enjoyed painting blocking fluid directly on to the screen mesh to make stencils. So I thought I’d explore a little more of a technique I’ve only demonstrated to students before: making mono screenprints (well actually perhaps better described as ‘trioprints’ – as one does get at least three versions of the same image) by painting on to the screen mesh with ordinary watercolour paints; and printing the image through on to the paper with a water based clear screen printing ink base. It really is as simple as that, and I’m sure some very exciting things are possible.
First, here’s a short video which shows the printing process. In this case, this is the third of five images of a running hare which were printed one on top of the other. Note that three printings are possible as the watercolour paint gets dissolved by the water based ink base.

​Here is one of the running hares painted on to the open mesh. Although, as the ink base is clear and doesn’t show on the paper, I taped out an open area to control the printing and cleaning process. The mesh is fine 120 or 140 t and is lovely to paint on once you learn that thin washes gradually built up are best. It is ordinary Winsor and Newton watercolour paint and I used a fan to dry various areas as I work, although it does air dry quite quickly, and dabbed with rag to lift some areas.  Unlike on paper, it is quite forgiving too and mistakes are easily washed off completely or reduced in strength with a little clean water.

​I was pleased with the finished set and even more pleased when one person bought all three – framed – to hang together as one piece. Something I wouldn’t have thought of myself!

​The next set took a similar approach; but this time of a leaping roe deer. One of the most elegant things in nature! This time I painted and printed each image twice - one on top of the other in the same register. I also used soft 2B pencil on the mesh as well as the paint as this prints through well in the same way as the paint. I may try printing just a pencil drawing alone.
The third or ‘ghost’ printing one of the three was very delicate, so I worked directly on the printed paper with more pencil to make what was my favourite print (or painting…or drawing?) of these experiments thus far. I have framed this one as I like it so much.

​The latest (and probably last for the time being) image is not a sequence, but a single image. I have also used masking fluid; applied with a quill to retain the white marks on the whiskers and fur highlights. This works very well and rubs off the fine mesh easily and cleanly.

​The other thing I tried was not only re painting and re printing the image twice, in two layers; but I also shuffled the order of printing: So with the first printing, sheet 1 got the first (strongest) image; sheet 2 the second (most mid tones) and sheet 3 was the ‘ghost’. I repainted another layer of paint in the same register, but this time sheet 2 got the first printing, sheet 3 the second, and sheet 1 the last. This was quite interesting as I ended up with three quite similar although all different prints in the ‘Varied Edition’

Lots more to think about and try. I shall add text to at least one of these next!