Solarplate Printing SEARCH THE SITE
Dan Welden
Introduction
Photopolymer plates have been in use in industry for several decades: printmakers like Dan Welden have been responsible for pioneered their use in printmaking. A range of industrial intaglio plates is available (some cheaper than others), but Dan Welden's solarplates are among the best researched and most widely used. The Solarplate process has similarities with Intaglio Type and other film based photopolymer methods, but here, the ready-made plates wash out in water rather than sodium carbonate. Both types of photopolymer process are nontoxic and open up a range of innovative artistic possibilities. FK
Dan Welden
IntroductionPhotopolymer plates have been in use in industry for several decades: printmakers like Dan Welden have been responsible for pioneered their use in printmaking. A range of industrial intaglio plates is available (some cheaper than others), but Dan Welden's solarplates are among the best researched and most widely used. The Solarplate process has similarities with Intaglio Type and other film based photopolymer methods, but here, the ready-made plates wash out in water rather than sodium carbonate. Both types of photopolymer process are nontoxic and open up a range of innovative artistic possibilities. FK
Dan Welden, Solarplate print
www.danwelden.com www.solarplate.com
DAN WELDEN, master printmaker, painter, educator and pioneer of safer printmaking processes, is the innovator of the Solarplate etching technique.
He
has worked with many renowned artists including Eric Fischl, Lynda
Benglis, Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Dan Flavin, David Salle, Robert
Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, Jasper Johns and Robert Motherwell.He is the owner of Hampton Editions and director of Printaganza Ltd., a non-profit center for international research and education in printmaking, in Sag Harbor, New York.
In 2001 Printmaking in the Sun, a book about Solarplate printing that he co-author with Pauline Muir, was published by Watson-Guptill.In 2005 the award-winning cinematographer Karola Ritter made a film, also entitled Printmaking in the Sun that documents Welden as he creates Solarplate prints at his studio. Helen A Harrison, Director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, provides a commentary.
The following is a summary of the Solarplate process. Extracts and images from Printmaking in the Sun by kind permission of Dan Welden. Copyright, Hampton Editions, Ltd., 2005.
The film Printmaking in the Sun documents Dan Welden as he makes solarplates at his studio in Sag Harbor. Welden lives and works in the Hamptons but also travels all over the world delivering workshops and sharing his expertise as a printmaker.
He trained in Germany as a traditional lithographer but has always had a love of experimentation and an interest in making printmaking more user-friendly. In the early 70s his investigations into safer and healthier methods led to the development of the technique now widely known as SOLARPLATE printing. Solarplate printing or etching is not only less toxic than traditional etching but also more versatile.
Dan explains how it works: "You can create a piece of artwork on a transparent film; overlay it on a solarplate and expose the film and plate together in the sun. Effectively you're transferring a drawn image to the plate and the plate can be used to print either in relief or intaglio."
The film shows Dan creating a powerfully fluid drawing on acetate using Graphic Chemical ink, various tools (including his fingers), and baby powder to give the image density in certain areas.
He enjoys the direct approach but goes on to explain that an image can be produced in many different ways:
"Some artists prefer to work in the darkroom with a photographic transparency. Others work with a computer; they scan images and print them out onto transparent film. Once we have that transparent film, that's what is used to create the plate. It's put in contact with the solarplate, exposed in UV light and then developed. Unlike traditional relief and intaglio methods, with solarplate printmaking there is no need to compose an image in reverse - the printed image appears with the same orientation as the original drawing."
Welden enjoys the freedom and flexibility of creating the image on acetate. With this material it is easy to add or remove marks, to create textures and patterns - and because acetate is inexpensive, if you don't like what you've done, you can simply start again on another sheet.
Dan completes two drawings on acetate - one to be relief printed, the other to be intaglio printed. Firstly, we see him demonstrate how to produce a relief solarplate.
How to make a Relief Solarplate
After Dan has finished creating an image on the acetate, he removes a light-sensitive plate from its folder. The drawing is placed face down onto the plate and a piece of glass is put on top. The whole thing is then sandwiched together using ordinary clamps that you can get from any hardware or home improvement store.
clamping the plate, drawing and glass
Dan carries the plate-acetate-glass "sandwich" outside and finds a sunny spot; preferably somewhere the sun will hit the plate at a 90 degree angle. A timer is set to a couple of minutes - the exposure time varies according to the strength of sunlight, the time of day, and the time of year. A delicate transparency needs less exposure time. He explains that:
"light will pass through this piece of film onto the polymer surface. This hardens the surface. Any areas that are not exposed, that are hidden by the drawing, will be automatically washed out in water."
After exposure the plate is taken back inside for the "wash out " or "developing" stage of the process. The glass is unclamped and the exposed plate is placed in a large tray that has a magnetised base. As the solarplate is steel, it holds to the bottom of the tray while being washed. The wash takes a little while because it is a relief plate and Dan needs to scrub all the way down to the metal, until the image is revealed. Copper-colored areas indicate the relief surface and the yellow marks are the lower areas.
Once scrubbing is completed, Dan thoroughly rinses the plate then blots it with ordinary newspaper before taking it outside once more to let it harden up.
How to make an Intaglio Solarplate
Next Dan demonstrates how to produce an intaglio solarplate. Firstly, the intaglio plate has to be exposed with an aquatint screen - a double exposure process created by Pauline Muir. The aquatint screen is a piece of acetate that has been machine printed with a pattern of tiny "squiggles". The light passes between the squiggles, which hardens about 20% of the plate. The emulsion side of the screen goes face-down onto the emulsion side of the plate which is face-up on the workbench.
checking for the emulsion side
of the aquatint screen
A clean sheet of glass is placed on top and the whole thing, clamped together. When there is not enough sun, Dan uses a light box to expose the film. He always exposes the screen to the plate for exactly 1 minute 30 seconds. Once the screen has been exposed it is removed and the drawing Dan made on the acetate is put in its place. The artwork is always exposed second and goes face-down on the plate before the glass is re-clamped. The plate is now exposed a second time. The length of this exposure is not standard - it is dependent on the nature of the artwork, and experience! Once exposure is complete, the plate can be washed.
The wash out on an intaglio plate is a little different to that of a relief plate. On the relief plate you can see quite clearly what's happening but with the intaglio plate, Dan washes it for about a minute and the image is only visible after blotting. As with the relief solarplate, he puts the intaglio plate outside to become fully hardened before printing.
inked and wiped intaglio solarplate
The remainder of the film shows Dan inking up the relief plate using a hard roller before putting it through the press; then inking and wiping the intaglio plate before producing the finished print.
rolling up the relief solarplate
For anyone interested in learning about Dan Welden's Solarplate printmaking, this DVD makes a great introduction. It demonstrates how a printing process can be made simple and safe, and still result in artwork of the highest quality and variety.
He trained in Germany as a traditional lithographer but has always had a love of experimentation and an interest in making printmaking more user-friendly. In the early 70s his investigations into safer and healthier methods led to the development of the technique now widely known as SOLARPLATE printing. Solarplate printing or etching is not only less toxic than traditional etching but also more versatile.
Dan explains how it works: "You can create a piece of artwork on a transparent film; overlay it on a solarplate and expose the film and plate together in the sun. Effectively you're transferring a drawn image to the plate and the plate can be used to print either in relief or intaglio."
The film shows Dan creating a powerfully fluid drawing on acetate using Graphic Chemical ink, various tools (including his fingers), and baby powder to give the image density in certain areas.
He enjoys the direct approach but goes on to explain that an image can be produced in many different ways:
"Some artists prefer to work in the darkroom with a photographic transparency. Others work with a computer; they scan images and print them out onto transparent film. Once we have that transparent film, that's what is used to create the plate. It's put in contact with the solarplate, exposed in UV light and then developed. Unlike traditional relief and intaglio methods, with solarplate printmaking there is no need to compose an image in reverse - the printed image appears with the same orientation as the original drawing."
Welden enjoys the freedom and flexibility of creating the image on acetate. With this material it is easy to add or remove marks, to create textures and patterns - and because acetate is inexpensive, if you don't like what you've done, you can simply start again on another sheet.
Dan completes two drawings on acetate - one to be relief printed, the other to be intaglio printed. Firstly, we see him demonstrate how to produce a relief solarplate.
How to make a Relief SolarplateAfter Dan has finished creating an image on the acetate, he removes a light-sensitive plate from its folder. The drawing is placed face down onto the plate and a piece of glass is put on top. The whole thing is then sandwiched together using ordinary clamps that you can get from any hardware or home improvement store.
clamping the plate, drawing and glass
Dan carries the plate-acetate-glass "sandwich" outside and finds a sunny spot; preferably somewhere the sun will hit the plate at a 90 degree angle. A timer is set to a couple of minutes - the exposure time varies according to the strength of sunlight, the time of day, and the time of year. A delicate transparency needs less exposure time. He explains that: "light will pass through this piece of film onto the polymer surface. This hardens the surface. Any areas that are not exposed, that are hidden by the drawing, will be automatically washed out in water."
After exposure the plate is taken back inside for the "wash out " or "developing" stage of the process. The glass is unclamped and the exposed plate is placed in a large tray that has a magnetised base. As the solarplate is steel, it holds to the bottom of the tray while being washed. The wash takes a little while because it is a relief plate and Dan needs to scrub all the way down to the metal, until the image is revealed. Copper-colored areas indicate the relief surface and the yellow marks are the lower areas. Once scrubbing is completed, Dan thoroughly rinses the plate then blots it with ordinary newspaper before taking it outside once more to let it harden up.
How to make an Intaglio SolarplateNext Dan demonstrates how to produce an intaglio solarplate. Firstly, the intaglio plate has to be exposed with an aquatint screen - a double exposure process created by Pauline Muir. The aquatint screen is a piece of acetate that has been machine printed with a pattern of tiny "squiggles". The light passes between the squiggles, which hardens about 20% of the plate. The emulsion side of the screen goes face-down onto the emulsion side of the plate which is face-up on the workbench.
checking for the emulsion side
of the aquatint screen
A clean sheet of glass is placed on top and the whole thing, clamped together. When there is not enough sun, Dan uses a light box to expose the film. He always exposes the screen to the plate for exactly 1 minute 30 seconds. Once the screen has been exposed it is removed and the drawing Dan made on the acetate is put in its place. The artwork is always exposed second and goes face-down on the plate before the glass is re-clamped. The plate is now exposed a second time. The length of this exposure is not standard - it is dependent on the nature of the artwork, and experience! Once exposure is complete, the plate can be washed.The wash out on an intaglio plate is a little different to that of a relief plate. On the relief plate you can see quite clearly what's happening but with the intaglio plate, Dan washes it for about a minute and the image is only visible after blotting. As with the relief solarplate, he puts the intaglio plate outside to become fully hardened before printing.inked and wiped intaglio solarplate
The remainder of the film shows Dan inking up the relief plate using a hard roller before putting it through the press; then inking and wiping the intaglio plate before producing the finished print. rolling up the relief solarplate
For anyone interested in learning about Dan Welden's Solarplate printmaking, this DVD makes a great introduction. It demonstrates how a printing process can be made simple and safe, and still result in artwork of the highest quality and variety.
Contact InformationWebsites
www.danwelden.com
www.solarplate.com
solarplate@aol.com
Telephone
631 725 3990
