Colour Engraving

bollards_blox

SKETCH AND BLOCKS with the colour wood engraving Afternoon, Bollards Lagoon. The original watercolour-pencil sketch made in central Australia is on the right, with the three blocks engraved for the print below. The colours are identifiable from ink leached into the polymer over the proofing and editionning period, but as the translucent white polymer has been surface dyed, the engraved lines still show up as a white line. The three inks are hand-rolled while listening carefully for the right amount of ink hiss, especially the yellow. There is a lot of proofing and many rejects before achieving the definitive set of progressive proofs ready for the edition – which with the Australia prints, range from 30 to 75 prints.