Project 7 Collograph workshop

From not knowing anything about collography to doing a workshop took exactly a week.  Wikipedia has a comprehensive description of the process:

Collagraphy (sometimes spelled collography) is a printmaking process in which materials are applied to a rigid substrate (such as paperboard or wood). The word is derived from the Greek word koll or kolla, meaning glue and graph, meaning the activity of drawing.
The plate can be intaglio-inked, inked with a roller or paintbrush, or some combination thereof. Ink or pigment is applied to the resulting collage, and the board is used to print onto paper or another material using either a printing press or various hand tools. The resulting print is termed a collagraph. Substances such as carborundum, acrylic texture mediums, sandpapers, bubble wrap, string, cut card, leaves and grass can all be used in creating the collagraph plate. In some instances, leaves can be used as a source of pigment by rubbing them onto the surface of the plate.
Different tonal effects and vibrant colours can be achieved with the technique due to the depth of relief and differential inking that results from the collagraph plate's highly textured surface. Collagraphy is a very open printmaking method. Ink may be applied to the upper surfaces of the plate with a brayer for a relief print, or ink may be applied to the entire board and then removed from the upper surfaces but remain in the spaces between objects, resulting in an intaglio print. A combination of both intaglio and relief methods may also be employed. A printing press may or may not be used.

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/collagraphy

I did the workshop with Carol Eason at the Bean Coffee Shop and Gallery in Bolsover.  The following photos chart the day.

The start of Carol's demo plate

Further progress

I used the image of the melon from my theme book as a basis for the shapes.

Layers of texture

I got layers by cutting and taking away the top layer of the card (the brighter white).  I put snippets of lace, shredded credit card pieces and spots of PVA on.  When the spots had dried I covered it all in PVA the consistency of single cream and when that was dry did the same on the back and sides.

Inked up

I inked up with a violet and an orange ink.  I put the ink on with my gloved finger. The shapes I had made were really hard to work with and there was a mix of the colours which I was assured was OK.
After the ink is applied it takes some time to wipe off the excess.  This is done with newspaper first and then finally tissue paper.

On the press

Carol was kind enough to let me use some lovely paper.  The paper needs to be soaked prior to printing so the shapes sink into it.  I placed the plate on the press with no real idea of what to expect. 

Surprise, surprise
coming of the press

Carol was delighted with the result but for me it's a bit messy (as is the whole inking up process).  Some of the detail is lost and I think it would have been better to stick with one color.  There is a real need to touch this print as it is very tactile but 36 hours on it is still wet in places.

The  completed print

The lace is on the left

The credit card marks

The plate after printing

The last picture shows the plate after printing.  In the centre the PVA coating has broken down and needs to be repaired before another print is taken.

I had to leave the workshop early and I felt a good deal of pressure from this.  If I can get hold of a small quantity of ink I'll try printing from the plate again because several can be taken from one plate providing it is cleaned straight after printing.