Searching for the sensuous print
Maryland, May 2005

Ever since I started working with inkjet printing, I have felt that my color prints, although beautiful and radiant, were lacking a tactile dimension. As a result, I have spent the last few months experimenting with printing papers and varnishes, and have finally arrived at prints that achieve the sensuous qualities I was looking for. This article describes these prints and some of the work that lead to them, and it gives a glimpse into a particular part of the artistic process.

 
Photographic printing
When I started my artistic endeavors back in 1990, I was soon introduced to Cibachrome/Ilfochrome printing. I immediately fell in love with the glossiness and color richness that these prints could produce and started using this process for my color printing.

Over the years, I used every opportunity that I had to study all sorts of different types of prints made with many different processes and materials. From this, I found that matte prints in general tend to have much better tactile qualities than glossy prints. The matte surfaces are extremely beautiful and tactile but are not suitable for all types of work.

Most glossy color prints, I guess because of the nature of resin coated (RC) photo papers, tend to exhibit a plastic feel. In contrast, glossy silver halide black and white prints made on thick fiber based papers come across with sort of a leathery surface. As a result they exhibit more presence, they draw you close, and they make you want to almost touch them.

I only came across two photographic darkroom processes that allowed the making of glossy color prints with desirable tactile qualities. Dye-transfer prints have rich colors and a nice organic feel. This process however was very costly and the required materials had been mostly discontinued. Ilfochrome prints have rich colors, an extremely high gloss, and a very special metallic sheen. These properties, when used well, give the prints a very special presence and quality. Therefore, all of my photographic color printing was done using this process until I changed from photographic image processing and printing in the darkroom to digital image processing and inkjet printing.

 
First exposures to inkjet printing
In 2002, I started investigating digital image processing and inkjet printing. I did that because inkjet printing at that time had reached a point where it could produce very high quality prints, and because I felt that digital image processing would provide me with more flexibility, finer image control and more creative time with my images.

To save cost, my initial inkjet printing efforts were done using a small inexpensive Epson desktop printer. As a result, all of my first inkjet prints were 8x10" in size and made with dye inks that cannot last for more than a few years. This did not matter as they were only made for investigation purposes.

I tried out a number of different printing papers with glossy, semi-glossy, luster and matte surfaces to get a feel for the differences and to see what would be best suited for my color printing. Based on this, I found that the dye inks produced very radiant prints when used on Epson Premium Glossy Paper. This is one of the highest gloss papers available and it takes dye inks very well.

After a year of experimentation, I was very happy with the results and made the decision to transition from photographic image processing and printing in the darkroom to digital image processing and inkjet printing. At this point, I started working with pigmented inks on a large format printer to achieve long lasting prints of up to 20x25" in size.

 
Refining inkjet printing
After working a few months with the pigmented inks, I also ended up choosing Epson Premium Glossy Paper for my color prints. This choice was mainly driven by the desire for a glossy print surface. Other paper surfaces, such as luster and matte, did not really work to my satisfaction for my color prints although the tactile qualities of those surfaces are more appealing.

For my newest work, "Desolation," done in black and white, the Epson Premium Luster Paper turned out to work very well. It gives the prints a sparkling pearly tactile quality and the cold tone of the paper very well supports the austere mood of the images.

After having worked with inkjet printing of my color images for about a year, I realized that I was not fully happy with my color prints. Although the prints were radiant and beautiful they were lacking a tactile dimension. They had too much the look and feel of prints made on ordinary photographic paper used for snapshots. I wanted something more. I wanted the prints to have more physical depth and presence and more of a sensuous organic feel. This sent me out on a half-year long search for a print that would meet these desires while at the same time would retain the gloss and radiance that is so important to me.

I have always liked the tactile qualities of prints made on matte fine art papers. Some of these are also capable of producing the most marvelously resonant and rich colors. However, they lack the radiance needed for my current color images.

Searching for methods that would yield the desired results, I found out that it is possible to surface treat prints with many different kinds of varnishes. This, to begin with, was a scary thought. However, research done by a number of different artists and companies has shown that many varnishes do not harm the prints but rather protect the prints extremely well and increase their longevity quite substantially.

With this realization, a whole new world suddenly opened up to me. It was now possible for me to freely experiment with all sorts of combinations of different paper types, surface qualities and surface glosses for my prints. I then started searching for a suitable paper and varnish combination.

The chosen paper has a large impact on the look and feel of a print. For months I worked with different types of papers to find the right one for my work. I tried fine art papers such as Epson Ultra Smooth, Moab Entrada Natural and Bright White, Hahnemühle Photo Rag, Arches Infinity and Epson Smooth. Of these, I kept turning back to Arches Infinity. To begin with, it was too creamy in color for my taste. However, I kept turning back to it because of its very special surface quality and because of the way the inks interact with the paper.

I find the surface of Arches Infinity far superior to any other paper I have seen. It has a very luscious surface with a wonderful silky/velvety feel but at the same time it is very smooth and capable of producing the finest details. In addition, the inks interact with this paper in an amazing way. It produces very smooth tonal transitions, an amazing color richness and a great feel of physical depth. It seems as if the different tones and colors originate from different layers within the paper. When varnished this effect becomes even more pronounced.

The choice of varnish also has a large impact on the print. It impacts the tactile surface qualities, the print gloss, and the tone and color depth of the print. With fixatives and fixative like sprays it is possible to retain the velvety and powdery feel that pigmented inkjet prints on matte papers typically have. In contrast, most liquid varnishes add a layer of "skin" to the print and substantially change its appearance. A wide selection of varnishes enable anything from matte through satin and semi-glossy to glossy prints.

My experiments have lead me to use Clearstar ClearShield Gloss varnish on top of my prints. This enables me to make glossy color prints that have sort of the same leathery look and feel as glossy fiber based black and white prints. The varnish also emphasizes the color richness and adds additional feel of physical depth to the prints.

 
Arriving at the sensuous print
After months of experimentation, I have finally arrived at color prints that have wonderful luscious surface qualities, resonant rich tones and colors, smooth tone and color transitions, a great feel of physical depth, and a radiant glossy shine all at the same time. I know of no better way to name these prints than by using the term sensuous prints. This is exactly the feeling that they convey and this sensuous appearance goes extremely well with the contents and expressions of my images.

Naturally my printing process has now become much more labor intensive for each print but it is definitely worth it. All my color prints are now printed on Arches Infinity Fine Art Paper that I hand varnish after printing with Clearstar ClearShield Gloss varnish. Only the image area of the print is varnished. This gives the image area of the print a shinny leathery look and feel while the paper border of the print retains a nice smooth velvety feel.

My black and white prints are still made on Epson Premium Luster as I am happy with the look and feel of the prints. I have not yet experimented with black and white prints on varnished matte papers as my focus this year is on the "Ouroboros" work. Sometime in the future, I will try this out and may switch my black and white printing to varnished fine art papers as well.

Making art is very much a living process where tools, materials, crafts, visual expressions and the artist change and evolve all the time. Only time will reveal what the future of my art and art making methods holds.