In the Print Studio with Paul Croft

Paul invited me to the print studio to experiment with my Lithino body print plate. With Paul’s extensive knowledge of lithography and my experimental ideas about using the modern printmaking process of Lithino, we set out to combine forces to see what we could achieve.

We selected an ink that I’ve never used: Hawthorn Printmakers Stone Litho Ink—Extra Dense Black, Paul’s current favourite lithography ink.

We then set up the J Greig & Sons Edinburgh Lithography press, temporarily modifying the press bed to prevent the lino plate from slipping.

The ink was rolled out using a soft leather roller, and the gum Arabic was washed off. I was particularly interested in how Paul used the roller; each printing method has its own special techniques. The ink took beautifully to the plate, creating detailed marks from my body print.

 A newsprint test print was taken, and while it was very light, it proved to be working well. Two prints were made on dampened Hahnemuhle paper to improve the ink transfer, which was highly successful, although we did come up against other issues. The first print got stuck to some residual gum Arabic on the plate, and the second print gained a cut in the paper; while neither print is ready for exhibition, enormous progress has been made.

I went on to experiment with printing on cotton fabric and was delighted with the results.

You can find out more about Paul and his printmaking at his website https://www.paulcroft.org/