Alison Hullyer: Seed Heads - the printing process

I thought you might like to see a few stages in the production of my latest print 'Seed Heads V'.  Every year a self seeded giant cow parsley plant emerges in the garden.  I really love the shapes, especially when it's stopped flowering and the seeds start appearing.

I start by sketching the plant and then transfer the design onto tracing paper with a pen.  I  then copy the design onto special coated-board, by pressing hard with a biro, on the reverse of the tracing paper.  I then add further marks to the 'plate' with a drypoint tool and remove a few areas of the coating where I want the ink to be really dark.

I then print the plate by covering it with oil based ink and then carefully wiping if off again, leaving the ink just in the lines.  I place the plate on my etching press, put paper on top and roll in through the press.  I lift off the paper to reveal the print and repeat the inking process six times to complete the edition.  When the ink is dry, I hand-colour the prints with watercolour, sign and edition them.