Fun with printmaking

It's been very busy these last few weeks, so much so that I actually kind of dreaded going into work today because I feel like I should be focusing my time on getting the house ready to sell and deciding on what to take to our new apartment, etc....(I can feel my chest tightening now so I better take a deep breath...whew). Anyway, I'm glad I did go in because it was a nice change of pace. What better way to spend a day than by doing a little printmaking. The kids loved doing their own collagraph prints.

A Collagraph print is a collage printmaking technique and is a form of Intaglio printing. The collagraph plate is printed in the same way as etchings, but also include the basic principle of relief printing and can be printed either as intaglio or relief.

The term collagraph refers to a collage board where the materials are assembled on a flat base or plate to form a relief block with different surface levels and textures.

Collagraph plates are created by adhering materials like textured paper or fabric onto the plate and then coating it with varnish or acrylic medium afterwards to protect the materials.

The plate can be made from wood plates or cardboard plates that you build up using different materials.


As an example, I showed the kids a piece I did in college. It's a cityscape of London (about 18" x 30"...this one had to be run through a press because of its larger size).