Test Success!

Yes, so I made the huge mistake of leaving my plate in the acid bath way too long. I was very scared that it ruined my plate. I still went on to continue adding aquatint to the elephant's skin. I thought it'd be a good idea to test print my plate before I make anymore progress or spend extra time on it.

The printing process is a precise practice. I start with heating up the hot plate and placing my copper plate on it so it will be easier to spread the ink across it. I card on the ink with little rectangular mat board pieces. I do it again to get the excess ink off of it. I get a dried out cheese cloth, tarletan, and wipe off more excess ink. Then, I give it a few quick swipes with my hand. I place my plate on the press bed and since I'm just testing this plate, I spray a piece of newsprint paper down quickly with water. I carefully lay the newsprint over the plate. My plate is ready to be sent through the press after I make sure the press is set correctly. I crank the lever and the bed slowly moves and goes through the press. I was extremely anxious to see how my test print was going to turn out. When it is finished going through the press, I carefully remove the blankets and lift the newsprint to examine my test print. To my surprise, it was a complete success! The background held the ink just fine. It was very dark though.

I am so excited that my test print turned out. That means I can confidently move forward. I need to have more than one color in this print so I am going to try an intaglio technique called chin cole. I will soak red pieces of tissue paper and when I'm ready to print, cut pieces in the shapes of certain objects/things on the plate that I wish to be in color. It is a pretty simple way of adding color.