We will be working on creating a range of carborundum and drypoint plates that can be layered using different colours and transparencies. The plates will be made from thin polycarbonate and printing is done intaglio with lots of wiping rather than rolling. Marks will be made with carborundum (grit) mixed into or sprinkled onto acrylic gel medium and glue at various consistencies. The more grit on the plate, the more ink held on the plate. Other plates can be created as drypoint, and scratch marks, roulettes, pinwheels, sandpaper, wire brushes, steel wool etc can be used to make marks in the plate - anything that will rough up the smooth surface and create burrs or interference to hold the ink.

Your images can be abstract or you can paint a picture, creating tonal variations by diluting the medium. We can try an overall screenprint on the plate with the carborundum paste which you can then wipe away to make marks, much like reductive monoprinting. It *should* create a mezzotint style image with lots of deep, rich colour and white where the image has been wiped away rather than burnished as in mezzotints.

The beauty of working on the clear polycarbonate plates is that you can see the layers as you are creating the plates to help you plan them. You could also make many unique prints when you make a collection of plates, each print different due to the combination and orientation of the plates, different colour combinations etc.