Had a wonderful week of printmaking. Since I knew I wanted two sets of 7” x 7” of monoprints I decided to use an 8” x 8” inch aluminum plate that I had to make things a little simpler for me. (Aside about printing plates: In traditional printmaking a plate is the matrix, often metal, upon which ink is applied. In encaustic printmaking a plate is a heated metal matrix, generally anodized aluminum, upon which encaustic paint is melted. A Paula Roland Hot Box is itself a large printing plate.)

Since both the plate and the Paula Roland Hot Box are anodized aluminum, whenever using a smaller plate on the hotbox you have to first place a sheet of newsprint down to keep the plate from scratching the Hot Box:

There are a few reasons to print this way. There is the reason I was doing it, to save paint and keep everything all neat and clean. But you can also use a smaller plate on a Hot Box to get nice clean edged print as in this example of a print I did on a Japanese paper (masa maybe?)

In this instance I was using this method to save paint and make my clean up a little easier. The printing process is the same. I laid on paint and made the pattern I wanted with a silicone tool:

I then put one of the pieces of 7”x 7” pieces of Rives BFK Lightweight paper that I had cut for the purpose on it, placed a sheet of newsprint on top and rubbed it with a bamboo baren and removed it:

I then repeated the process 5 times. I only need 4 prints of this pattern but the sheet of paper made 6 7” x 7” pieces so I made 6 of each while I was at in case any got wrecked along the way – just in case.

I also made 2 quarter sheet fairly boring brown prints for the applique wing pieces that will go on the green squares. More than I’ll need but I’m sure I’ll use them for something down the road. Then I made two quarter sheet yellow prints for the applique squares and tail. For these I first did a simple background print using Hylla Evan’s gorgeous Hansa Yellow and R&F Encaustic Paint’s Mars Yellow for a batik block print on top:

I have a small but cherished collection of hand carved wood printing blocks that I have gathered over the years. I’ve had this one the longest and I don’t even remember where I got it, I’ve had it for so long. These blocks are used traditionally either with dyes or more often with wax in batiking. To use them with Encaustic printmaking you heat the block, melt some paint, place the block in the paint, then stamp the block on a piece of paper.

When I do it I keep the paper I am printing on on top of a piece of newsprint on my Hot Box, paint side up (if there is already a layer of paint on it) to keep it warm. Between each stamp I keep the block in the paint for about 10 seconds then on the paper for about 20 while pressing down firmly. I find I have to adjust times depending on a number of factors (ambient temperature, humidity, paint used etc.). When possible I’ll test on a small piece of scrap paper first. You may also need to adjust as you go if the paper or Hot Box heats up. As you go you may also need to add paint to your ‘well’ of paint that you are drawing from.