"Jars in the Window" ~ Final Version

I just did something I have never had to do before. Reprint a gum image, three times before I liked what I had done. All of it in public view. First iteration of this image was a gum print, ten print layers and probably two dozen colors, to realize in the end that I simply didn't like what I did. The underlying application theory worked, in the sense of color selection and print times, etc, yet the finished image always turned out dull, no life, no light. Making any black and white print is all about printing with, and for, the light quality of the image. Without light in an image, there is but tonalities, and colors, but no life. That has been the grail of printing for me for thirty five years of learning just how to control for that.

I attribute some of my failing to see the deterioration of the print image quality over several layers is simply crappy eyesight. Being blind in one eye and color blind to red/green has it's drawbacks when working with colors of any kind. I take humble color advice from my color guru wife, an artist that sees the fuller spectrum of human color sight. This print arrives at what I had wanted to represent a moment of my past as I saw it then, and wanted to recreate. A simple comparison of the last version and the final one is a good example of light quality. The first version simply lacks the light quality of the second. Each print teaches the printer a little more.

This is what I had in mind

Gum over Palladium
"Jars in the Window" ~ 8x10 ~ Unique
Eugene, Oregon