I had a glorious day in the studio last Thursday. I had prepped my plate the previous Tuesday evening, ran a proof off & happy with the outcome, I decided to have a good run at producing an edition for the Red Circle print exchange (deadline: imminent). And if I had time, I would attempt a slightly larger edition for the Oregon print exchange.
I set everything up & ran another proof off. There were some extra marks on there that were probably as a result of wiping off. I felt they distracted a bit too much from the intended image, so I tried another proof, with similar results. Between each proof I had degreased the plate using a powdered solution & a brillo pad (as we do everytime we need to de-grease a plate) but this wasn't ridding my plate of the extra marks. I should have left it there, after all - it's Chance Operations! But no, I decided to brasso the plate, another tried & tested process in prepping the plate for print.
I ran another proof off... and then another... the spit bite image which I was quite pleased with & took an hour to bite had vanished!!! I say these de-greasing & brasso processes are tried and tested but the spit bite process is new (as in, I'm one of the first to try at Green Door studio). It's such a delicate way of biting the plate that I had actually removed the image from the plate.
My studio time is precious, it being annual leave from work (& not a lot of it) & here I am wasting my time printing proofs & destroying the image. I consulted the studio technician. Fortunately, she had the great idea of using the Open Bite technique, painting on a blue wash to stop out the areas I don't want to bite & leaving the Spit Bite area open to the mordant. And it worked :) Not quite the same result - it now has a hardened edge around the area rather than the delicate ghost-like impression that it originally had but it has taken the print one step further & at least I have 1or 2 prints that are testament to the original.
Lesson learned.
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