Relief Printmaking Ink Mixing

Video Transcript

"I start off with a bit of white. Say if I want to make a light yellow, start with white. I'll add some yellow, and getting used to these inks, is, takes some time just as it would for any paint. Each ink has different levels of opacity and transparency, dependent upon their pigment. Whites for example are more opaque, browns are fairly transparent, and the more that you spend time working with the inks, you'll get an idea of the different elements of those inks. Right now, I'm mixing this white in with some orange, to get a different color. From here, I can choose to like this color, but I don't, so, I'm going to add something to give it a little more depth. And so, therefore, I'm going to put a bit of blue into that ink. Just a touch. One of the things that I do when I'm printing several layers of ink, is, in order to give it continuity, because it isn't a painting, it's a print and there is going, even though there can be a number of colors in your print, there's generally a smaller number of colors and variables than you would have in a painting. Therefore, I try to add a little bit of one color to each of the layers of ink, to give it some sort of continuity in the print."