St Budoc part 6

The weekend is here, so I had time to get back to the studio. Before coloring a print I usually tape it to a drawing board with paper tape, as if I were going to do a standard watercolor painting. The print paper expands from the water used in painting, and the tape makes sure that it goes back to being flat after it dries. I've also used the stuff since I started printmaking at the College of William and Mary, where we were taught to use paper tape to stick the still damp etching proofs to the wall, also to help the drying paper flatten. It was effective for that and made it easy for everyone to see all the students' prints in progress. After they dried we used a knife to cut through the tape where it overlaps the paper and remove the print. Years of this treatment had left the wall covered with layers of cut and torn brown kraft that was almost a work of art in itself. (This was back when the print studio was in Andrews Hall, not in the new building out by Lake Matoaka.)

Once the tape had mostly dried I started coloring. From my traditional watercolor training I have the habit of starting with lighter warmer colors first, especially when there are a lot of similar colors. That's what I did today, using lots of golden brown tones for all the wood (barrels, rack) and the skin tones, as is seen in the photo above. After letting that dry a little I came back in with some of the grays (hoops, floor), added some shading to the barrels (umber, indigo), and colored the wine bottle label. The photo shows that I had originally put a light wash of the wood color where the wine glasses are, since the wood color would be naturally seen through the glass. I didn't like the results- they didn't read as glasses and the wood color was overwhelming the composition. So I overlaid it with layers of a cool white tinted blue, which makes the subject more obvious and echoes the cool grays in the barrel hoops. Last I added the darkest color- the red wine pouring from the bottle and in the glasses. I like the results so far, but I took it home so I could look at it for a while. Tomorrow I'll color the second proof, either copying exactly what I did today, or with some minor changes if I feel different after living with it a while. Either way, I'll post the finished print.