Following on from my more in depth blog on collagraph printing on to tea bag paper I thought I'd do a really quick round up of a few prints I've made on the paper using both relief and intaglio techniques and any thoughts or pointers that I have.
Wood Engraving
Having seen many wood engraved prints being printed on oriental papers I was pleased that the tea bag paper performed really well. I am new to wood engraving and I didn't want to spend much on the paper before I build up some skills! The paper has a really smooth surface and took the ink (Hawthorn Stay Open Ink) really well especially when burnished with a spoon. What's more it is really clear on the reverse of the paper where the ink has printed and where more attention is required.
Lino printing
Very similar results to the wood engraving, using the same inks and easy cut lino. My best results were achieved by burnishing with a spoon, when put through the Xcut press the pressure needed to be spot on or the paper tore on the lead edge. Really clear print definition again.
Drypoint Printing
Quite pleased with the outcome of this print although a little patchy in the middle but I suspect that's down to my inking as the sides have printed really well. Printed with Hawthorn inks from a plastic drypoint sheet.
Rubber stamp
The two different stamps used in this print were carved from speed ball rubber and a Dovecraft bronze ink was used. Again the prints are clear and well defined.
I will look into gelli printing on the tea bag paper in a separate blog post.
If you are interested in printing on tea bag paper you can find it in my shop.