What is Solarplate?

I have mentioned that I got into Solarplate prints in the last year and there may be some of you that are wondering what I am talking about.  In the next few blogs I will take you through the process of doing a Solarplate etching.  It is a great product that has a lot of potential in the printmaking arts.

Solarplate is a thin metal plate coated with a layer of photo-sensitive polymer that hardens when exposed to ultraviolet light.  The product I use is called Solarplate Copper, and is available through most of the art supply sources.  You can go to www.solarplate.com to read more about the product.  Dan Welden has developed the product and has a book out, called "Printmaking in the Sun".  You can get it through that web site or through Amazon.com.

The basic set up involves a cushioned board with a 1/4" glass plate and clamps for the plate exposing and either sunlight or a UV light box to expose the plates.  Below is a photo of the light box I built using 6 inexpensive blacklights purchased at Walmart.  You can also see the board with glass and clamps.

The first step in the process is preparing an image for the print.  The image is prepared on clear acetate, either by painting or drawing directly on acetate or by preparing an image on the computer and printing on the acetate with an inkjet printer.  I have used photo images and scanned pen & ink images as my original art for the acetate.  Photos must be modified in photoshop to be shades of grey and dot patterns or you must double expose the plate with an aquatint screen first or the darks will not print solid.  In the image above I posterized the photo and added film grain in order to acheive the dot pattern.

The image is then printed onto inkjet-printable clear acetate at the size of the solarplate you have chosen.  The acetate is then placed emusion side down over the solarplate and the glass is clamped on top.  The plate is then ready to be exposed.

In the next blog I will go through the exposure process and developing the plate.

Art is not created on the canvas, the potter's wheel or on the screen of the computer.

Art is created in the artist's imagination.

The rest are just tools.

Stephen M. Perry

It's Been a Learning Year

With two more art fairs coming up and five under the belt, I am stepping back to assess what I have learned this year.

1.

Color sells.

Over the winter I got into Solarplate etchings and aquatints and added subtle watercolor tints to them after the printing process.  It's been amazing to see the increase in response to the colored prints.  Those are basically all I have been selling this year.  Needless to say, I will be continuing along that path!

2.

I have got to develop a lower price-point product.

You can't rely on the public to buy artwork only in the $100 - $300 price level.  I have noticed that all of the printmakers that I have seen at shows have a lower level product.  Many have gone to glicee prints, or inkjet printer reproductions, of their work that can be sold at a lower price-point.  In general, the public doesn't understand the difference in an original etching and a copy.  My response to the issue is that I am going to develop designs specifically to be printed by inkjet with a different look than the original etchings.  They will be small and will appeal to the impulse buyer.

3.

I have to stand out.

My booth and display at the art fairs has been neat, clean and boring.  I need to develop a distinctive look that will help me stand out from the 100 - 300 other artists.  In actuality, you are in competition for the pocketbooks of the people who walk through the art fair.  I thought it would be enough to show good work and people would buy.  These days, people are very selective in what they spend their hard-earned money on.  You have to attract them, engage them, interest them and sell them.  I am working on a design for an attractive print display unit for my matted prints that will stand out from the other booths.

One of my solarplates with watercolor

"Last Catch"

by Stephen M Perry

The fading late afternoon sun has turned the Birches

into a bright golden accent on the lake bank.

The summer has faded into fall and

It’s about time to put the canoe away for the season...

But today there is time for one last catch.

 

 

Visit my web site for more information:

http://www.backroadspress.com/

 

It's Been a Busy Year

Well, it's been almost a year since I last blogged.
2010 has been a very busy year.  We were juried into some highly rated art fairs, have developed a new look for my etchings with watercolor tints, have mastered the solarplate method of printmaking and have several new outlets for my work, including a current showing at the Coutts Memorial Museum of Art in El Dorado, Kansas.
We have exhibited at the Book & Art Fair in Wichita, KS, the Edina Art Fair in Edina, MN, the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina, KS, the Downtown Omaha Art Fair and the big Uptown Art Fair in Minneapolis, MN.  Upcoming shows include the new Autumn & Art at Bradley Fair in Wichita and the ArtFest West Show in West Des Moines, IA.  There may be one or two more that we try to work in between football games and fall foliage trips.  It seems that things just keep getting busier and busier!

Below is one of the new Solarplate Aquatints that I have been showing.

Just Fishin'

by Stephen M. Perry

Sometimes you work hard to create a better life.

Other times you take the problems of the world on your shoulders.

Often you find that there is more to do than a day can hold...

Sometimes you need to sit and just fish.

You can see more of my work on my web site:

http://www.backroadspress.com/

Stephen M. Perry