In this project, we need to use the risograph printing technique, which is totally new to me, to print our mask photos with an assigned partner. My partner is Angela and we all prepared our photo in advance which was great because we could direct start to print.
We met a lot of trouble during the printing process, including three times of paper jam, several times of showing that there is nothing in the machine where we put the paint in. And the most serious part is that the dual color painting was not working during the whole time. So we had to print the photo in one color at a time and then used it to print for another color, while keep adjusting the position of the second layer.
I think the most challenging aspect of creating the print is keeping the machine work normally. The easiest aspect is preparing the photo in photoshop. The process that I liked most is when I tried to combine different colors and waited to see what would it appear.
Below is the whole process with pictures.
The first color combination I used was black and orange. I made the color black first. The left is the first print and the right is the black in deeper value after several prints.
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Then I printed in orange. The left is the first orange print and the right the orange in deeper value after several prints.
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It was at this point that I found out the dual color printing was not working. After several attempts, I decided to print the orange layer on the black layer to get two colors.
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Although orange and black is a cool match, it was not good for my photo. The small parts of black looked messy.
So I tried the second color combination: red and purple. The left is the red print after several times and the right is the mistake I made when I tried to print purple on red but put the paper in the wrong direction.
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This is the work that combined red and purple together. But I still considered it messy and the vivid colors draw too much attention and I wanted the mask to be the focus.
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So I tired the third color combination: gold and black.
The left and right are the gold print and black print individually after several times of printing.
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When I combined the two colors together, I met problems. The left one is I put the paper in the wrong direction when I trying to print black on gold. The right one is something was wrong with the printing machine that it swallowed some parts of the gold area when I trying to print gold on black.
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The left one is one printing in the process of changing the position of the gold layer. The right one is the final look. I liked the color combination, but I thought the gold color swallowed a lot of details on the mask, clothes, and tree. It might be better if I switched the positions of the two colors.
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So I swapped the two colors and did it all over again. The left and the right are the gold and black printings individually after several times of printing.
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Then I combined the two colors together and below are the printings in the process of changing the position of the gold layer.
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And finally, this is the outcome of this project.
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