My dry point printing.

dry point printing is a simple process like drawing using a pencil/pen but with a dry point such as a needle to create an impression on a material such as a plate, tile etc that can be printed from- this can look very effective, ink is then placed onto the plate/tile then cleaned so that ink only remains in the cracks. The plate/tile is then put through a printing press where the ink is printed onto paper/card etc..

I scratched my design into a plastic tile with a dry point tool and produced my portrait with a scratchy quality. I also messed around with coloured ink, red, blue, green, purple ad black and when they dried I added to them with pen, highlighter, ain't etc. Here are some examples...

 

                       

 This image was printed in black ink but the image wasn't detailed enough so I added to it with black pen onto the hair, shading and cross-hatching around the edges for extra detail- I really like this effect.

The image didn't scan very well- in real life the yellow and green areas are more prominent and are in highlighter pen. This effect looks really good. Also, I like the dark ink that has smudged around the edges.

 Whilst printing this dry point print I applied different coloured inks to certain areas to create a colourful image- Unfortunately, this didn't work. The green is noticeable unlike the blue in the hair and red in the lips and looks very out of place, It looks boring and not very detailed. A way to improve this would have been to do it again but leave more of the ink left on the plate so the colours would be bolder and the print would be more interesting to look at.

 In this print I left the ink applied in the darker areas that you can see to add some sort of tone/ shade etc.. It has worked well and I am pleased with the outcome. On the other hand- in some places it looks very smudged which makes it look shabby and rushed so maybe it would have looked abit more professional had I have cleaned the smudges off before printing.

I really like this print- It looks like an under developed photo from an old camera. I left the smudges there on purpose to create this effect simply by not fully wiping all the ink off properly and it's paid off well.

This is one of my favourites.. It reminds me of them drawings you would see in very old books where everything was printed in black and white and the drawings all had a scratchy dark quality. This print makes it look as though there is a light shining on the face in a dark room and the result has a very dark, Gothic quality. I wouldn't change anything about this print