U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: polymer gravure idea

Re: polymer gravure idea



Hi Susan,

I agree with others on the minimal dry time for the transparency: 2 hours is fine. Heck, I've burned plates with transparencies directly off the Epson. However, 24 hours gives the benefit of added time for the ink to set, making it less subject to moisture, fingerprints, and scratching if you plan on transporting it before, or preserving it after making your plate.
For more creative stuff I've played with acrylic varnish sold by Liquitex, a thin coating of which will actually create texture but allow the image to come through with about +/- 50% opacity.

Cleaning the plate afterwards can be sketchy though since most solvents will eat away at the varnish somewhat.

You can also try scratching the plate and dousing it with water (bleh) and other chemicals to create effects. It's not as clean to carve as linoleum though.

Best wishes,
Jon

SusanV wrote:
Hi,

I'm impatiently waiting for my OHP and aquatint screen to arrive so I
can start testing exposures and digineg output, etc.  (and I just
realized I'm supposed to wait 24 hours for the neg to dry
arrrrgggghhhhh ).

So while I'm waiting, I came up with a question for you who work with
this polymer:  Has anyone tried working on the plate after it's
exposed and hardened?  Is the material "carvable", or soft enough
(meaning softer than the steel tool i'd be using), to inscribe or
otherwise mess with in the way an intagio copper or zinc plate can be
done?

susan