'Rare Capitol Blizzard'

WHEW!!! I finally finished the printing for the Print Exchange Project that I volunteered for. It was hard work! I did over thirty prints, 'cause ya never know! The most difficult part was deciding on an image that I wouldn't be embarrassed to share. This was not my first try; not by a long shot! Once I started to receive some of the other participants' prints I realized that the bar was very high indeed.

Below are the three different plates that I used for this print.
Plate #1, on the left, is the sky. It's two pieces of soft wood from a dis-assembled Clementine box from Spain, which I abraded with a wire brush to bring out the grain. I glued the thin planks onto the back of an old block, so as to raise it to, more or less, the same height as the key block. Then I drilled some holes in it, for the blizzard snow flakes. I printed this in a very light gray, which was a mixture: of one dot of DSmith Lamp Black, a lot of Titanium White, and some Transparent Medium.

Plate #2, in the middle, are the shadows on the dome. This plate is made from Scratch-Foam, also mounted on an old block. I had to mask this one carefully for every pull. Yuck. This was printed in a darker gray, which was: two dots of Lamp Black, a lot of the Titanium White, and some Transparent Medium.

Plate #3 is the Key Block! It's the building detail. This is done on a mounted lino plate from McClain's. I printed this with two parts DSmith Lamp Black mixed with one part Transparent Medium.

I used DSmith Water Soluble Relief Ink for the whole project. I printed on Magnani Pescia Paper, plain bright white. I used the 'Andrew System' of registration and was delighted with it, pending a few small tweaks. I hand burnished using a soft Speedball baren, after masking strategic areas of each plate.

All in all, I am happy with the outcome. And not ashamed to send a copy to each of the other participants. Now I just have to wait until they all dry. I might be waiting until Valentine's Day!