I had some time today to get into the studio and test out some new papers. The two prints laying down on the table top are a direct comparison on two premium matte papers using the same image and the piezography K7 carbon inks. The four prints standing up are testing two things – the two on the left are a comparison of black and white printing using the Epson Ultrachrome inks on the same two premium matte papers. The two on the right are testing the K7 inks on two versions of Epson Hot Press paper: bright (on the left) and natural (on the right). I need to print a few more images before I can tell if any of these options will turn out right for this project. I’m leaning towards the Hot Press paper at the moment, but I also want to see what the K7 selenium inks look like on these two papers as well as a warm/selenium split toning.
One of the challenges I’m trying to deal with is to find a way to take a back-projected image on the screen, and translate that to an image on a matte paper. I’m drawn to matte papers because of my background in traditional printmaking and because I think matte papers are a better choice for hand bound artist’s books. But the disadvantage to working with matte inkjet papers is the loss of intensity and depth in the deep shadow tones in comparison to glossy photo papers. So I need to come up with a solution that takes those limitations into account but present the image as I have visualized it.