Original Printmaking:

Viscosity Prints

Gallery of Viscosity etchings

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Viscosity prints are made from a very deeply etched zinc plate, bathed in acid for roughly 8-12 hours for some parts of the plate.  Printing is done in one pass through the press.  

Three colors are applied by wiping the first color in the usual intaglio manner.  The second color is a very oily ink and is applied with a hard roller, so that the roller only places ink on the highest surfaces of the plate.  The final color, a dry or tacky ink, is applied with a very soft roller that sinks deep into the plate.  The dry ink skips over the oily ink, and sticks to the plate only where there is not already an oily film of ink present. The technique is called viscosity printing because the outcome of the placement of the ink on the plate depends on the relative oiliness (or viscosity) of the 3 inks

 

Vivacious, viscosity etching
Vibrant, viscosity etching
Fading into Fallow Dawn, viscosity etching
Like the Wine Grow Mellower, viscosity etching
New Dreams Gather, viscosity etching
Radiance, viscosity etching
Where Broods Radiance Vast, viscosity etching
Aurora, viscosity etching
Afterglow, viscosity etching
Reflective, viscosity etching
Saturday Morning, viscosity etching
Awakening, viscosity etching
Indian Summer, viscosity etching
The Chill of Uncertainty, viscosity etching