Quick prints

I’ve added a couple of prints I did about 5 years ago now. For anybody interested in printmaking but without access to proper printmaking facilities, you can still make prints at home.

You’ll need a pane of glass, printing ink, an ink roller and a decent supply of newsprint or other very thin paper. You can buy the ink and whatnot from most good art shops (or try online – even Amazon).

Spread the ink thinly on the pane of glass to avoid waste and cover it with a sheet of newsprint. Press on the newsprint lightly and pull back slowly to remove any excess ink. If there are completely black areas on the paper try again. Repeat this until the page looks consistently gray all over (or as close as you can get it).

With another new piece of newsprint over the inked-up glass, begin drawing with a pencil as normal. Play around with different pencils on the same drawing but make sure you don’t tear the page.

Once you’re finished, peel the paper off very slowly. The ink will have stuck it down well especially if you’ve taken a while on your drawing. I would try to finish a drawing within 15/20 minutes, if that.

Et voila! Nice new print with lots of strange ink marks and stains that, I think, add to the drawings. You could even try changing the colour of the inks you use – maybe use a mix of three choices. It’s not the cleanest method of printing, but very quick and always surprising.