Mini Elephant Collagraph Prints

I am quite fascinated with elephants and a lot of my artwork features them! When I spotted this family group at Chester Zoo recently I couldn't resist doing some prints of them and I'm having fun at the moment with tiny 10 x 10cm collagraph prints so I just had to do a little elephant series of prints!

Collagraph print: Print created from a card plate made by adding glue, paint, enamel etc. This holds the ink in varying degrees and is then printed through the intaglio process.

This is what my printing plates look like before printing, I always work from dark to light and all the images are backwards too so It's not an easy process!

Applying ink all over the printing plate, this is sepia ink but can look really dark before printing.

Wiping the ink off the plate, and getting very messy too!

Printing plates all wiped and ready to print. The printing plate holds the ink in crevices and rough parts of the plate and the lighter parts are smoother so the ink is wiped off to print the whiter areas.

 

 

Elephants hot off the printing press! I have a small etching press which lives on my dining room table everyday except for Christmas day!

Elephant & Baby Collagraph Print

 

Elephant 2 Collagraph Print

 

Elephant 1 Collagraph Print

Here are the finished prints all framed and ready to go to their new homes!

Might be tempted to do a few more elephants very soon!

Clare xx