Damp paper and other experiments

Over the weekend I experimented with a couple of prints. First of all, I dampened the paper before printing. This was a success. The paper held the print much better if it was damp. I also used 'packing' on the press - putting extra sheets of paper on the one printed to make a heavier impression.

The other thing that I played about with was the mix of ink. I put two colours on the ink stone and rolled them together on the plate. This created an interesting blend.

I discovered that it's easier to print light colours than black (or at least, the imperfections are not so obvious when printing with light, bright colours on white paper).

Here are a couple of examples, side by side, with different weights of ink and different blends of light grey and light blue.