"Akua Intaglio" Water Based Inks-

           .....the time is now.

 

I have written elsewhere in my website and spoken on many occasions of my favoring oil-based etching inks, simply because they performed so very well; and they really do. My mission in life has been to convince other printmakers to go “non-toxic” a la Keith Howard, as written in his wonderfully helpful books.  I was almost living up to my own position on safer printmaking, but still had one item that contained some harmful elements: my old standby oil based etching inks!  Up until now.  I have tried the Akua Intaglio water based inks and my world is now upside down, but at the same time unified and complete.  All elements of my printmaking are now truly “non-toxic”, and not simply “low-toxic”.   I had my doubts about how well water based inks might perform, and believe me, I need all the help I can get to make my work look good.  Akua Intaglio fills my requirements beautifully and has now become my favorite ink!  It is safe, and performs as well as oil-based ink.  Similar rich texture, ease of application and cleanup with soapy water.  I am a convert! 

Akua Intaglio water based non-toxic inks will now allow me to offer safe printmaking to local schools and senior citizens.  These two population groups are most susceptible to genetic damage and carcinogenic harms from solvents and toxic chemistries.

 

Before first use, the Akua Intaglio ink needs to be worked in the jar to mix the ink into a uniform consistency because it does seem to settle out and separate just a very little.  When the desired amount of ink is placed on the inking table, it works up instantly to “ready to use” smoothness.   Right out of the container, the Akua Intaglio ink applies, works, and feels almost identical to my favorite French made oil-based ink.  Wiping the plate is different: Akua Intaglio wipes more quickly and cleaner than oil based.  In fact, care must be taken not to remove too much ink too quickly.  It takes a newly learned touch to properly wipe the plate, but the results are worth it. Far more control over image manipulation is offered with Akua Intaglio with its modifiers and ability to print wet or dry with different results for each.

 

Wet etching paper versus dry

My favorite paper has been “Copperplate” for many years, and it still is…it works great wet or dry with Akua Intaglio!  It has no sizing, so etching blankets do not get stiff from leached sizing.  Copperplate wets instantly, and renders the absolute finest printed details.  This is important to me because I generally integrate an extreme level of detail into my work, and I just don’t have the patience to wait for an hour for the paper to soak and get soft.  (Type “A” behavior trait)

The wetted paper print result is softer and has less contrast. The same image when printed dry on identical paper, and with identical inking and wiping, has more contrast or “snap” to the image.  Details are more distinctly indicated, and the colors more intense. As a further bonus to dry paper printing, there is no problem with “scalloping” and wrinkling that needs to be flattened out.  Plate tone may be manipulated to leave either more or less plate tone through the use of the oil conversion additive.

 

How I wipe the plate

 First, I use soft tarlatan that I soaked for about a minute in hot water with no soap-just water. After wringing out the wetted tarlatan, I let it dry or put it in the clothes dryer for about 10 minutes.  This makes the tarlatan even softer by removing some (but not all) of the sizing.  Using the softened tarlatan, I form it into a ball and flatten the side that will be contacting the plate.  Using a gentle series of twisting motions, I lightly dance the tarlatan across the face of the plate, creating a surface covered with swirling circles.  This removes excess ink, distributes it evenly, and prepares it for the next stage of wiping.  Opening up the tarlatan, I remake the balled up tarlatan with a fresh unused facing portion ready to apply to the plate.  This time the tarlatan is wiped across the plate with more customary plate-wiping arced swipes.  Very gentle touch here.  When the image emerges clearly, I switch to yellow pages from a discarded phone book.  Very flat and gentle wiping with yellow pages paper, refreshing the paper after each wipe, the ink is removed efficiently from the surface of the plate, but leaves ink intact in the incised lines and aquatinted areas.  It is helpful to have very good lighting so the plate may be easily “read”.  Just tip the plate a bit in the light, and you can easily see where ink needs to be wiped a bit more. But, don’t over wipe it!  Experience will be your best teacher here.

 

 

Four plate four-color intaglio

Some technical background details

I use DuPont acrylic photopolymer “Ultra” film laminated to copper or plastic etching plates following the Keith Howard approved method of “non-etch” plate preparation.  These four-color image separations created using guidelines from three simply excellent sources: David Jay Reed, and Keith Howard’s bible, “The Contemporary Printmaker” and Dan Burkholder from his excellent book “Making Digital Negatives for Contact Printing”.

 

I am using Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and Adobe Illustrator 10 for my image creation / manipulation material and making positive image transparencies using an HP model 1220c DeskJet inkjet printer.  For exposing the laminated DuPont ultra film, I am using a NuArc 26k 1,000-watt metal halide exposure unit.  Optical aquatinting of the plate is accomplished using Elizabeth Dove’s excellent aquatint screen.  You need this screen unless you have a Mac and “Icefields” stochastic image creation software.  My PC driven inkjet yields an image that is stochastic-like, and works very well.

 

Printing the Four Color plates

The Akua Intaglio colors used for my four-color prints are:  Phthalo Blue, Hansa Yellow, Crimson Red, and Lamp Black.  A miniscule amount (touch of the dampened finger- not even a drop) of Akua Intaglio Blending preparation was mixed with the colors and black inks; just enough to make the ink looser and slightly transparent.

 

I apply the inks by dabbing a gloved fingertip into the ink, then dabbing the ink onto the plate.  I spread the ink over the plate with only my fingertip, and not a cardboard or plastic applicator.  This kinder, gentler fingertip method protects fragile plates from scratches and premature wear.  The DuPont “Ultra” film is fairly durable, but gentle treatment will assure a longer run of excellent imagery. I use medical examination McKesson brand Blue Nitrile gloves when working with inks to prevent messing the paper later on.  Nitrile is used in place of Latex because people often develop allergic contact dermatitis eventually from this organic material.  Nitrile is inorganic, non-allergenic, and also stronger.

 

Using a balled piece of softened tarlatan (see above for method of softening) I gently dance the tarlatan over the plate with a twisting motion.  The contact portion is changed frequently to assure removal of the ink, not simply moving it around.  When the image is quite distinct and clear, I switch to yellow pages.  Each page is ripped into quarter sheets, and a portion of the surface is used only once to remove ink.  The flat of the hand or four flat fingers is used, and wiped with very gentle pressure.  Special attention is paid to the blank (white) areas, and I strive to give them an extra wipe to ensure those areas are clean.  I wipe the edges of the plate with a cloth to make sure they are neat when printed.

 

Printing Order of the Color Plates    (printing upside-down after yellow!)

First I print the yellow plate. It is placed face up (inked side up) on the press bed, and a piece of etching paper positioned on top of it.  Using tight press settings, I crank it through.  Now, I remove the used yellow plate and place the newly printed-paper with the yellow image face up on the press bed.  I carefully position the red inked plate with only my “calibrated eyeball” and put it right on top of the yellow image and run it through the press. Then black, and last blue.  Occasionally, depending on the coloration and my judgment, I will print black last before blue, or just change everything around to suit my mood.

 

 

A happy (and significant) note:  When inking a copper plate with yellow ink, I am now obtaining a clean, bright image result.  Typically with oil based inks, yellow was always a difficult color to use on copper or zinc.  Oil based etching inks contain ingredients that react with and immediately oxidize the metal.  These newly created oxidants instantly combined with the inks and the resulting color was muddy and greenish.  How wonderful to see my four color prints rendered in the intended bright, true colors.  This benefit alone makes a strong enough argument for me to switch to water based Akua Intaglio right now!

 

Drypoint on Copper

New Converts

In my Monday night etching class, I introduced my students to Akua Intaglio.  One had a beautiful and wonderfully executed drypoint on copper that was ready to be printed.  The plate was inked, wiped, and printed with a simply beautiful result the very first time! Smiles all around.

 

Drypoint on Plastic plates

Excellent results are obtained when inking the drypoint plastic plate. It wipes easily with very good control over plate tone, and renders even the finest line detail with incredible fidelity.  The same fingertip only method of applying ink is also used here.  No modifiers need be used at all in the ink.  Because the plate is transparent, a white sheet of paper under the plate allows easy “reading” of the density and distribution of the ink and wiping progress.  Plastic plates are great for students or the accomplished professional who wishes to have superior control over the ink distribution and plate tone.  It becomes very much like a finger-painting exercise, and is really wonderful fun!

 

Mezzotints-

I am currently printing my mezzotints in both color and black with Akua Intaglio inks. The results so far are quite good, and when I finish printing some more and tweaking the ink preparations, I shall post the results here.  Mezzotint is the ultimate challenge in the techniques that I employ for printmaking!

 

So, let me close by heartily recommending you try Akua Intaglio.  Rostow and Jung are wonderful and supportive folks to work with.   Be sure to order their videotape that shows how to successfully use the inks.  I am sure you will find the product to be both a pleasant surprise, and a way to live longer without having to give up printmaking. 

     I am now offering my classes using Akua Intaglio ink.

 

Cheers- John.

 

Reference websites:

AKUA-KOLOR / AKUA INTAGLIO (Jung and Rostow):

     http://www.waterbasedinks.com/

 

Keith Howard’s Non-Toxic Printmaking page:   

     http://www.praga.com/Imagon/imhoward.htm

 

Dan Burkholder:

     http://www.danburkholder.com/

 

David Jay Reed- link showing his student’s prints:

     http://www.waterbasedinks.com/galleryphoto.html

4 plate 4 color printed with AKUA INTAGLIO

"Harbor Dragons" 4"x6" photopolymer Ultra film by John C. Murray