There's something sexy about printing by hand and collecting prints, such as the robust smell of ink, especially oil, the raised impression on the paper where the plate hits the medium, the hours it takes to make a plate, mixing colours, applying colours, and using many techniques: Alla Poopee and Chine Colle.
'I love making hand prints.'
The most interesting of all is the physical nature of making prints.
I find myself running from water baths to printing machines, inking tables, and washing basins (keeping hands clean at all times is a must).
It's like a waltz: skip to the basin, raise your hand on the print wheel, plunge your paper into the bath, bow to the process, and repeat with your partner.
If the waltz is danced with precision and success, I look at my print and say, "Wow," excitedly and proclaim; I made that!
Each dance has a slightly different tempo as the band is live; thus, each print will look somewhat different. That's the beauty of a print. Some are slightly better than others.
This is old-school charm. Like "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton, which is a novel that lives through many generations, so is a handprint, its old world techniques eloquently devoured with our eyes the same way we read through the classic literature, heavy on words and meaning I also find the same in using this historical art form of hand printing.
I still have my copy of "The Age of Innocence." It now has the old book smell, is yellowed with age, has been read many times over, and is dated 1995.
'Collecting Prints'
This will not happen to your print. Printed on archival paper, which is acid-free and will not yellow, your print will last way longer than you with a bit of care. Store in an acid-free tissue and avoid bright or direct sunlight.
Collecting prints is a great way to build confidence in buying original art with certainty.
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