Wrenching Times....halftone on goatskin

...more time with Mindy, at her studio in union square, printing the third half-tone polymer plate, on her vandercook Uni III(it has an adjustable bed)which she recently repainted.
The results were great, the softness of the skin proved very suitable for this style of printing, giving a rich deep inking, but not overly inked, picking up every detail and subtle contrast, that maybe is more difficult to capture on a paper surface.
The vellum did not come out that great....here's a tip, if you are going to print on vellum, do not over colour it, a half-tone print will be too subtle to make out.
...having my options limited in this fashion will help me move forward with the design.
Forwarding continues

Wrenching Times ...flattening vellum

...so I'm not sure if it'll work, so the back up is to use a dyed fair goat...but the plan is to flatten old vellum sheets, print on them with a third plate which will be a famous image from the aftermath of the battle of Gettysburg.
The vellum is bathed in a solution mixed with alcohol to kill off all mold and nastiness.It then can be rinsed, dried, then dyed to suitable colour.
On the vellum skins, usually the side with the writing on is what would be called the "hair side" and the side most suitable for colouring.
I happened to have a hollow frame handy, and nailed the skin tight over the frame.I'm betting that it may take a week to dry.
I did also make a smaller, more finished frame, which consisted of a system of bull dog clips tied to nails.
This worked well and would be a good method for important smaller documents where more care would be needed, but in this i didnt need to be too precious.
Forwarding continues.....