Lithography

This class again is very open in that you can bring your own ideas into the class and adapt them to the techniques we learn. Firstly we are beginning to learn how to print using the large slabs of what I think is lime stone. The initial chore is again to remove the previous image that was put on the stone by the previous user. To remove the last image you need two of the stones, you have to rub them together file off the old image and smooth the stone to create a good printing surface. You have to turn them so the printing surfaces are the ones that touch, on one of the printing surfaces you need to splash some water and then cover it in a dusting of iron filings, the filings act as the abrasive removing the previous image and the top layer of the stone. You have to use two different grades of the filings, a more coarse one to remove the image and then a fine one smooth the surface. This is process took me two lessons, so about 4 hours, as you have to apply several applications of the filings, and then rub the stones together for about ten minutes in a figure of eight, then wipe off the paste and start again. This is the stage I am at currently and I will update the rest of the procedure and photographs as it happens.