This image starts with a graphite drawing on a sheet of Mylar. Mylar is a plastic, translucent sheet with a slight tooth on the surface that helps hold the graphite. Once the drawing is finished, it is sent to the printer in New York. They expose the translucent drawing to a photosensitive metal plate, and the image (drawing) is burned into the plate (an acid etch I believe). This process of converting the image to metal and then to the print, reverses the image, so it is a mirror image of the artist’s drawing. The artist has to take this into consideration when creating his artwork. The metal plate covered with ink and along with the printing paper, is run through a printing press. Through the press pressure, the ink is transferred to the paper. The deeper the image is imbedded into the metal plate, the more ink it holds and the more intense the ink appears when transferred to the paper. This is critical for fine adjustment, because once the plate is etched too deep, a new plate would have to be made to lighten that image. Any ink color can be selected to be used for this drawing image.

For any additional color plates to add to the print, another black graphite drawing is required. On the "Night Owl" there are four plates and therefore, four separate drawings. Each drawing must be "keyed" to the original drawing, so that all of them are registered correctly in relationship to each other. This ensures that during each phase of printing, each color is placed in the proper spot on the image. "Night Owl" has a main "black" plate, along with three custom color plates, one green, one pale yellow, and one reddish brown. (If each of these four drawings were combined, the result would be a black image, nearly solid in places. It is only through this printing process that the image becomes the artwork. Consequently, there is no real "original" for the artist to market, as it exists only as separate graphite drawings. The prints become a form of original prints, similar to stone lithographs or intaglio prints (etchings.)

After the four colors have been printed, the print can be further enhanced with hand coloring. For the "Night Owl" print, I used acrylic washes to enhance the color on three "master" prints. These were shipped to my publisher in Florida (Mill Pond Press) along with a detailed record of the brand and color of acrylics that I used, how I mixed them, and how I applied them. Their team of artists that specialize in hand coloring review and duplicate my efforts on the print edition. They then send those prints to me for my approval and subsequent signature. These artists are very good, as there were times that had I not marked my masters, it would have been difficult for me to tell which ones were mine. This entire process makes these print an original print, with limited quantities.

This is the official Web site of Rod Lawrence.  All rights reserved.  Use, reproduction or modification of any part, or image on this site without permission is a violation of copyright.  Please respect the rights and property of others.  Read the Copyright Law.