More floral monotypes - irises this time

A couple more on Flickr. Follow the link on this page

So How did I do these?

Both of these images here started from the ghost print of the original one which you will see on Flickr. 

I started out with each element of the compositions on individual pieces of acetate. I inked up the plate first in a bluey green, then the individual pieces of acetate in their own various colours. The bands of colour were laid across the bottom half of the plate, then the iris followed by the leaves and iris bud. In the top image on this posting you can just see the blue shadowy image of the original iris in the background.

Once that first one was printed I carefully lifted off the pieces of acetate which left the blue bands where the acetate protected the ink underneath and the iris. I then inked up the background again in purple this time and by accident rather than design I achieved the ink separation you get when using inks of different viscosities. The strippy effect on the stems of the iris and leaves came about from these shapes being laid over the horizontal bands and turning them over to ink up on the side which was originally face down on the previous print. I then just added additional ink to the top of the bud shape and the iris itself. I printed it again and followed the same process as described each time using the ghost image left behind after lifting the acetate shapes off to inform my decisions on what I wanted to do next.

I carry on in this vein sometimes producing successful prints but I do find that by the 4th or 5th print it is generally speaking time to wipe the plate clean and start again from scratch as the background becomes too indistinct to be worthwhile continuing. It's great fun though.