by Michael Craine, third generation colour man and Director of Cranfield Colours
The British crime writer Agatha Christie said that being married to an archaeologist was great. The older she was, the more interest her husband showed in her!
The old is new again and printmaking is in a fascinating phase. Printmakers are re-visiting old methods, but with new techniques and materials in the context of a far greater understanding of what constitutes non-toxic printing. This energy is equal whether in an air conditioned studio on a 200 year old press or in the kitchen using implements such as silver foil and a wooden spoon.
It’s a good time to print and thankfully it’s not simply a period of momentary and passing enlightenment. It’s an evolution. Even when using older methods, the inks for example are not ‘just as the old masters used them.’ We have come a long way in pigment technology. Printmakers of yesteryear were generally at a disadvantage in terms of pigments, especially with reds and oranges that would not fade. Today, the opportunities are immense and the numbers involved (both from professional printmakers to those just starting out and ‘having a go’) just keep growing!
For more information about non-toxic inks from Cranfield head to their website.
To buy Cranfield products in the US, head to BLICK Art Materials.
To buy Cranfield products in the UK, head to Pegasus Art.