Cafe update - Inking issues

So yesterday I managed to pull a print of the orange neon tubing that is in parts of the Cafe sign.  If you look closely at the image above, you'll see that things did not work out so well.  The ink did not transfer so well to the print and came off very splotchy.  It adhered in some places and not others leaving a very textured surface on the print.

 

Here are two detail shots of the area which had the worst transfer.  You can see the texture and in the left image you can see where the ink filled in the thin cut (bottom 1/3).

I do not claim to be an expert at this process and have sought out help from other printers in hopes of figuring this out.  Some recommendations were too add some oil to the ink to reduce it's stiffness and to add a tack reducer.  I have oil and this morning added some to the mixture as well as pulled a print to test the ink.

 

Unfortunately, the results were fairly similar this morning though not nearly as bad as yesterday.  The ink still filled in the thin lines and even some of the thicker areas.  The tubing area of the "f" in the image on the right has most of the edges filled in with ink and when printed left small ink peaks on the paper (they remind me of small mountains).  I'm very concerned about the progress of this piece and will need to buy some tack reducer to see if that helps.  Unfortunate, but I'm not going to just push ahead and completely ruin this piece just because I would like to get it moving.

While I'm waiting for the tack reducer, I'll probably start work on the Diner piece and hopeully have a printed image within a couple days.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #neon #sign #HarleyDavidson #LasVegas #Cafe