Color lithography

Finally, the day has arrived when I could finish my first color lithography. It took forever to get to this point because I had these motivational and stress related issues a while back so I didn't make much progress. Then I made a plate for a new piece in the "different spin" series, only to realize just how much can go wrong in a color lithograph, so it probably would not be very smart to start with a 4 color print, even if it's four times the same plate. So I made a 2-color design. Nothing fancy, just some abstract design to learn the process. Then we had spring recess and this week I finally could print the thing.

Now, for color lithography you have to be even pickier with cleaning everything because you really don't want to have any other color on your print, or - worse - get it on your paper before you even have a chance to print. So what I did (picky me) is to completely and very carefully clean the entire print station before I even start. And clean it again afterwards because that's how it should be. That adds time. Then is the issue with getting the ink to have the right consistency which is a lot of work (it took me almost 45 minutes each time this week). So add all of this and you get a solid 5 hour block to print one color. This was a 2 color print, so that's a lot of work. Considering it's really pretty physical labor. And of course this is just for printing the thing.

I had two very good print runs. Everthing worked just as planned, the prints came out really consistent. The registration also worked pretty well and all 6 prints look really identical. One of the plates seems to have been masked a millimeter longer so there is a bit of misregistration but all 6 plates are consistent between each other, so I'm fine with that. It just shows I have to be even more careful next time I plan the print. The print is not the pinnacle of my artistic achievement, but that doesn't matter so much - this was about learning the process. So here it is: my first 2 color lithography.