Collagraph Printmaking

I have been working on a series of plates for a music based collagraph print. A few weeks back I posted a photo of the collagraph plates in the progress of being constructed. In that photo the plates were whitish in color because they were unfinished and they hadn't been coated with shellac. I am now one stage further ahead. In the photo below you will see all four plates, one of which has been inked and run through as a test print. The others have a yellowish color which comes from the coating of shellac that is put on to seal the plate and help protect it. I am not happy with the test print at all but I have added a photo of it so that you can see the process.

You will notice that the letters are back the front. That is because in printmaking, things print in reverse. Also what is high on the plate will print deep on the paper and the other way around. You will see this in the photo of the test collagraph print below.

If you want to see more of my collagraph prints go to my web site http://www.susanneclark.com/ and check out the collagraph printmaking gallery page.