The printmaking medium is the means by which the photo-sensitive polymer plate is used to access a whole new bag of creative tricks. The freedom I have gained working with photographic imagery using light sensitive polymer plates in conjunction with the Printmaking process allows the all important personalized artistic touch to be more easily facilitated and hence realized. The fusion of digital photography with all its complements into the printmaking realm creates the perfect balance of advanced imaging technology with an age-old hands-on archival fine art process, Printmaking.
The bridge that facilitates the synthesis between these two processes is the photo sensitive polymer plate which grounds the digital work flow into a medium that supports the all important expressive aspects of creatively interacting with materials during the printing process as we could when using the Traditional Darkroom.
Printing in the Traditional Darkroom is a hands-on process allowing the artist a tangible interaction with the medium promoting the ability to impart an aspect of his or her energetic finesse to the final interpretation of the print. The ability to take digital imagery into a medium that is an archival fine art medium as diverse as printmaking makes it a perfect marriage for the photographic arts.
Today there is a revival of alternate printing mediums in the photographic arts among them are Platinum/Palladium, Van Dyke, carbon printing, collotype, cyanotype, gum bichromate, etc. All of these photo reproduction process are wet darkroom processes that encourage the artist to interact in a corporal manor during the interpretive printing stages of the image much more so than what is possible with direct digital imaging. Polymer gravure like traditional gravure allows the artist to create prints of unrivaled quality. Photo shop is still a key factor in tailoring photo images for the polymer gravure process in a creative sense as well as allowing for the facilitation of making the positive transparency fit the contrast range of the polymer materials. Photopolymer materials extend the possibility to the artist to create elegant gravure type images or step into the world of creative photo printmaking with digital imagery finalized in an archival fine art medium.
Traditional photogravure is a complex technique. The deeper etched shadow portions of the plate hold more ink thus printing darker values than shallower etched highlight areas. Unlike many of its predecessors the polymer gravure process is a “safer” process in regards to health issues.
Today it is possible to buy photo-sensitive polymer plates {SOLAR PLATES solarplate.com} or films {IMAGE ON},which can be processed simply using plain water creating an etch in the surface of the plate allowing for the image to be printed on a wide range of fine art papers. The incorporation of hand drawn or scanned imagery into the polymer gravure process gives the artist continued possibilities to affect the final feel and content of his works .
