Royal collographs – and the plates.

This print is a new one made from an old collograph plate that I made when I was at the Sydney Gallery school, maybe 5 years ago. This image was mostly made using impasto, on a base of mat board. A paper serviette was cut for the ruff collar, a piece of textured paper and a sticker for the headdress, and some minute sequin-type objects to decorate the dress. The hair and the fan are also textured papers.

You can see better on the collograph plate. This is the reverse image on mat board that one inks up and puts through the printer with the paper.

I’m now  doing a series of royals, but the only print I’m satisfied with so far is the new one of Elizabeth at her coronation.  This one also uses impasto, but a lot of stickers. Those gold ones that you have to pick off the backing paper- the ones that sometimes say ‘happy birthday’. I think you can probably see them quite clearly on the plate. The snood is fine Japanese paper with a grid texture, and the dress is fine paper that has a silver and white swirly print. (You can see that effect best on the bodice.)

I’ll be reprinting some of my other new ones (Queen Mary, Henry VIII, Catharine of Aragon) next weekend.