It is easy to get caught up in the process of gelatin printmaking. It is fast and spontaneous. I will often pull many prints and not really have any one print that is finished.
Add a focus to complete your print
One way to complete a print is to add a focus. Ask your self:
- What is the print saying?
- Does it have a feel?
- What kind of mark would compliment and complete the print?
Sometimes it is easy to answer those questions and other times the print is just in its infancy.
This print above was just a blue and black “newsprint” pick up. And by added the black figure I created a focus and also embraced the design principles of variety and repetition.
Printing design principles
My suggestion to you is:
- notice how your eye travels around the print
- allow for surprise
- aim for a dynamic range of values from very light to very dark
- limit your tools (don’t try to do everything) in one print
- give yourself time and space to develop your design skills
- simplify, simplify simplify
If you would like to explore printmaking – check out the current online printmaking classes.