Some of you may not know what I am even doing in Spain. Here is a definition from the internet.
from Wikipedia
Intaglio (/ɪnˈtæli.oʊ/ in-tal-ee-oh) is the family of printing and printmakingtechniques in which the image is incised into a surface, and the incised line or sunken area holds the ink.[1] It is the direct opposite of a relief print.
Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface or matrix, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or mezzotint.[2] Collagraphsmay also be printed as intaglio plates.[3
tomorrow I hope to create and post a stop-motion video of the inking and printing process.
While this trip to Spain has been fun, it has also been a lot of hard work. I wake up everyday at 8 and go to the print shop at 9 only to work non stop until 5. I take a 10 minute lunch break to eat a sandwich. By the end of the day I am totally beat and usually type a blog post and cook dinner and go to bed. Sometimes I walk to the store, or in yesterday's case- the beach. The weekends are free so that leaves me to go explore the city or the mountains-or both.
Of the 14 days that I will be here, 10 of them were spent in the print shop. Of those 10 days, 8 of them were spent creating the plates used to make an edition of prints.
When creating a plate, one must first polish with three kinds of sandpaper and then two kinds of buffer polish. The edges must be filed perfectly as well. Then the design may be applied through a variety of methods that include etching, aquatint, engraving, drypoint, mezzotint, and photo etching.
After doing all of this to three plates I have 2 days to make 3 editions of prints. yikes. I may have gotten ahead of myself, but we shall see. My goal is for each edition to contain 10 prints. This means I will have 30 prints total. I have only made 4. I have 26 left to make in 16 hours. Lots of numbers. After seeing the hours I have I am going to have to make my editions smaller in order to finish.
This experience has taught me so many things about printmaking and also about planning. I think it is one of the most beneficial experiences for me as an artist and as a professional. I definitely have learned what to do and what not to do in all realms of traveling, being organized, and art making.
orange juice and my sketch book
Yesterday I discovered I have a juicer in my kitchen. I also have a bag of 12 oranges. Now I will be making orange juice everyday. It only takes 2 oranges to make a full glass, and this juice tastes nothing like what store bought orange juice tastes like. This is sweet and delicious where store bought is tangy and delicious but less so than home made.