Collagraph- ‘Watching’

My collagraph plate was  inspired by one of the dead, old oak trees that I  see on my walks through the Bedfordshire countryside: always silhouetted against the sky is one or more crows and ravens, congregating on the branches watching over the fields.

I used teased out string glued onto the mountboard to create tree bark and bird feathers. I created the branches out of textured wallpaper and made marks in it with a knife.

After the plate was varnished and dried with a hairdryer, it was time to ink up the plate using brushes. I wanted to create an atmospheric moonlit effect so I combined blues and used plenty of extender.

I hope you like the result. 🙂

The printed plate was hand pulled through an etching press. I used damp watercolour paper. Every collagraph print is different. I achieved a ghost print which was much lighter too.