My dry point prints

Dry point printing was a long process and the results weren't so great. I wasn't expecting anything fantastic because my design was so simple. If I had a bit more time I would have scratched a bit more detail into my design.

Inking the acetate

I used red ink for the first four or five prints because it connotes caution or warning.
I found removing excess ink was surprisingly easy but made my arm ache!

The prints

I was pleased with this print in particular because the triangle shape around the moose was really straight and the ink didn't bleed. It was just really vivid colour throughout.
Prior to printing, I had soaked the paper in water for roughly a minute and pressed it to squeeze out excess water. I found it resulted in better-looking prints rather than when I soaked the paper for longer.











This print was from using black and red ink (although unclear in this photo). I rubbed red ink into the triangle outline and black into the moose.
In the actual print you can't see this properly either so the effect isn't brilliant. It also looks as if it has been drawn with crayons. The darkness of the ink brought out the cross-hatching detail of the moose.











Anomalies

When I rolled one print through the printing press, the result was a blank piece of paper with a tiny part of the triangle! I was really confused how as the acetate was underneath the paper on the press and had rolled it through twice, as I should have done. I think maybe I didn't use enough ink on the acetate? Or the way it was laid on the press, it could have been slightly bent? I'm unsure though.

Evaluation

If I was to do this entire process again, I'd honestly be very reluctant. It's such a long and tiring process for such a weak result. I don't think this print process is the best out of the lot I've done. However, next time, I'd definitely take more time into scratching my acetate design, using more scratching techniques. I'd probably experiment a bit more with colour as well and use different materials. My materials to print on were indeed limited as I ran out of time to properly go to town with this print process. I wish I had put more effort in though, as some other prints I saw from my peers were really interesting! Some people had printed on very thin paper and wallpaper and all sorts. I know next time to be more adventurous. That said, it's quite difficult when you don't enjoy doing it in the first place.