Denise Hummel Moser

Printmaking

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Hi Line, a 18″ x 24″ woodcut with  three layers of photo-intaglio plates of fractured photos from the view looking north up the Hi Line in Chelsea

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6th Avenue is a layered multi-media print based on my photo.  I was experimenting with wiping and rolling my collagraph with different inks, papers, and methods of applying the ink.  The collagraph is a wood substrate, which includes cheese cloth and other fabrics glued to it after I carved out the windows and shapes of the buildings.  It is printed alone in the second black and white image.  After printing the first runs of the collagraph in other color combinations(using wiped and rolled methods), I then layered a print of my photo-intaglio image on top, which I had manipulated with the collagraph image on the computer.  I excluded the fabric patterns and impressions from my collagraph, into the photo, using Photoshop, and then printed it on a full sized transparency, which was exposed and developed onto the intaglio plate.  This top layer, the photo image, is now a reaction to the collagraph, instead of being straight from my photo of 6th ave.  This process took months and a lot of paper and misprints.  I’m excited about the results, which are still developing!

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I enjoy the technical problem-solving of the printmaking processes, especially creating unique surfaces and using the textural effects of the traditional printmaking methods, such as woodcut, with the new photo-intaglio methods.  

Union Square is my first combination of woodcut and photo-intaglio.  It began with my woodcut of the corner of Union Square, which i rolled as a block print (the blue and black image above is the woodcut printed alone).  I then printed it in lighter combinations of rolled colors, before layering a photo-intaglio on top. I experimented with different papers, Acua inks and oil-based inks, trying to find the right combination of inks and colors.  My favorite so far, is the top image, rolled in ochre-sienna combinations before layering the photo-intaglio, printed in a blue-black ink. 

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I’ve been trying different colors for rolling the block print before printing the black photo-intaglio on the top.  I think I’ll use the warmer hues for my show.

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Holmes Oval South in layers  12x24 3-layer printmaking

I layered three plates, first from a collagraph, second one from a mylar painting with tusche wash, the third being a photo-intaglio of segments of the houses 

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Holmes Oval South in tusche and pastels

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Night Market,” a 16″ x 20″two-plate photo-intaglio that is a definite in my show in April.  I experimented with the colors, separated the CMYK and printed only two of them in sepia and blue-black.  It captures the same richness of textures and mood of my photo intaglios that I layer with collagraphs and woodcuts.  I took this photo in Albayzin, the ancient Moorish neighborhood in Granada, Spain, that provided images for my first woodcut two years ago.

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Thompson Street, Tribecca area of NYC. I had fun screen printing this black photo-silkscreen on simple stencil print of white on every kind of paper I could find in the studio. Ha.  Thanks to Bill Vivona, my esteemed colleague, who timed the right exposure for me and took it out when I forgot to return!

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24″ x 18″ silkscreens: Experimenting with combining silkscreen with printing the intaglio of the tusche wash(painted on mylar) on the top of the one color silkscreen. But I was unsatisfied - so I tried omitting the tushe wash intaglio and printed a two-color silkscreen with a photo-silkscreen image on top instead.  I was considering a third color but I am missing the textures and depth of the intaglio.  I think this is a deadend.  The prints will be left unresolved.

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24″ x 18″ PhotoIntaglio from manipulated photo of Central Park walkway, heading south on east side of park.  

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Photo-intaglio of stream below Kaaterskill Falls, NY

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My first Mezzotint - of Washington Park “Facing East” on a December day at dusk. The lighting was so atmospheric that I took a photo and chose it to be my first attempt at a mezzotint, (which took hours of rocking with Julie’s mezzotint rocker!) which created a surface that was rich with textures. It was fun to burnish the highlights and finally experience a historical printmaking process, made famous by Escher and other masters of centuries past.  It feels intimate and timeless.

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Two-plate photo intaglio of snow shadows on the back walk.  I tried it in a four-color (4 plates) CMYK print of the photo, but my favorite is only two of them - the magenta plate with the cyan plate printed in black on top.  Its more direct and I like it more than when it was just trying to copy a photo.

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My first collagraph - inspired by my photo of a boulevard in Granada, Spain.  It was created by gluing cardboard, gauze fabric, lace, and other materials onto a masonite board, painting over it with acrylic medium gel, and carving into the surfaces.  First I inked and wiped it with intaglio black ink, and then rolled white block printing ink across the surface to catch the raised textures, before putting it through the press.  I attempted several versions, experimenting with different inks.  It absorbed me for weeks, editing the board and exploring different options, but I think I found a medium that excites my love of textures with the graphic qualities of printmaking. Getting close, but I still haven’t printed one that satisfies what I’m trying to achieve.

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Mono prints - Painting on plexiglass with intaglio printing ink and printing on Arches paper - scenes from Spain in 11"x14" and 18"x24".

The ink in the top painting of Albayzin(an ancient Moorish neighborhood in Granada), was an experiment - too thick and didn't print well(this is a photo of the ink on the glass - not the print itself).  But the following three prints, of Barcelona La Rambla at midnight, printed well enough.  The last one is 18"x24". 

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I experimented with Carandash watercolor crayons, drawing on a silkscreen and dragging the squeegee over the drawing, with a transparent acrylic silkscreen ink base.  I need to refine the amount of base and drawing medium - it was messy but I like the atmospheric textures and intensity of colors.

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Trace-lithos!  Its like drawing blindfolded - they are so unpredictable and a surprise when you pull the paper up from the plate.  I did a series of them one day