Photo by Ed Cunnius
Since I was a traveling tourist with an art agenda, my photographs of the “Street Dogs of India” were situational and unposed. After returning to my studio, I inspected the developed photographs for the characters of the dogs and the situations in which they resided. The selected photographs were then enlarged in black and white to a scale fitting BFK/Arches art paper, 11X14 inches.
Most of the dog images I chose for printing also have below them a row of smaller, significant images of Indian architecture or culture. This is to
emphasize the country in which the dogs are located. They only
sometimes reflect the city in which the dog lived.
Photolith printing plates are made by exposing a black-and-white photographic transparency, made from the black-and-white photographic image, to an aluminum photo-plate with a negative emulsion. An industrial computerized plate-maker uses a vacuum to seal the plate and negative, and the whole is exposed to ultraviolet light for a measured length of time. The aluminum plates are then developed in warm water and exposed to the sun for a period of time.
The plates are then filed along the edges, wiped with oil, and burnished and inked. Inking is a very delicate process involving the saturation and density of select inks whose colors are specifically mixed for each image. Inking is done by hand or brayer and wiped with tarlatan cloth. The inked plate is then placed face up on a measured grid on the press bed, and damp printing paper is placed on top of it. Alternatively, the plate can be placed on top of the damp printing paper. The plate is covered with various wool felts and run through the press under a metal roller. I then examine the resulting print and place it on a drying rack.
When partly dry ,the prints are pressed slightly, examined again, and the hand-coloring method for each image is determined. Image coloring is accomplished with a variety of media including two varieties of Aqua Oils, gouache heavily liquefied, aqua pencils. Prismacolor, and various drawing materials. The
coloring stage may take a week or more after the print is made in order to successfully achieve the required vitality or emotion.
The coloring process takes place first on a proof and then on the final
print, hence each is unique. Because so many techniques are used,
each print is designated a “multimedia print.”
Most of the dog images I chose for printing also have below them a row of smaller, significant images of Indian architecture or culture. This is to
emphasize the country in which the dogs are located. They only
sometimes reflect the city in which the dog lived.
Photolith printing plates are made by exposing a black-and-white photographic transparency, made from the black-and-white photographic image, to an aluminum photo-plate with a negative emulsion. An industrial computerized plate-maker uses a vacuum to seal the plate and negative, and the whole is exposed to ultraviolet light for a measured length of time. The aluminum plates are then developed in warm water and exposed to the sun for a period of time.
The plates are then filed along the edges, wiped with oil, and burnished and inked. Inking is a very delicate process involving the saturation and density of select inks whose colors are specifically mixed for each image. Inking is done by hand or brayer and wiped with tarlatan cloth. The inked plate is then placed face up on a measured grid on the press bed, and damp printing paper is placed on top of it. Alternatively, the plate can be placed on top of the damp printing paper. The plate is covered with various wool felts and run through the press under a metal roller. I then examine the resulting print and place it on a drying rack.
When partly dry ,the prints are pressed slightly, examined again, and the hand-coloring method for each image is determined. Image coloring is accomplished with a variety of media including two varieties of Aqua Oils, gouache heavily liquefied, aqua pencils. Prismacolor, and various drawing materials. The
coloring stage may take a week or more after the print is made in order to successfully achieve the required vitality or emotion.
The coloring process takes place first on a proof and then on the final
print, hence each is unique. Because so many techniques are used,
each print is designated a “multimedia print.”
My first press assistant, Armando.