Ellis Benjamin B. - Printmaking Work

THIS IS A GALLERY OF ALL THE PRINTMAKING I'VE BEEN DOING RECENTLY. CHECK THE SIDEBAR FOR SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS!
MANY OF THESE PRINTS CAN BE BOUGHT IN MY SHOP

RISOGRAPH PRINTING
A product photo of a scattered pile of risoprints, all in pink ink, on blue and yellow paper with white at the top. The risoprint design has the text 'Annihilation! Annihilation!' in front of a halftone background with plants and spores.

'ANNIHILATION' PRINTS, MY FIRST EVER RISOPRINTS!

 A product photo of a pile of risoprints of a fossil velociraptor in its death position with a crow perching on one wing. Around the two animals are stars and a ribbon with the text 'I am going to make it through this year if it kills me.' on, on white, pink and yellow paper.

CROW & VELOCIRAPTOR 'THIS YEAR' PRINTS, DESIGNED FOR SALE AT MY END OF YEAR SHOW. LYRICS FROM 'THIS YEAR' BY THE MOUNTAIN GOATS.

 A photo of a full-colour CMYK risoprint against a blue background. The print is an illustration of a young White woman in traditional Eastern European-inspired folk dress in blue and an oversized brown jacket. Behind her is a arch frame full of blue clouds, with details of stars and flowers on the edge of the frame.

MY FIRST FOUR-LAYER RISOPRINT. A SUPER INTERESTING LEARNING EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY SINCE I DID A LOT OF IT WRONG AT FIRST.

 A photo of a full-colour CMYK risoprint against a pale brown background. The print is an illustration of a young Black person in warm-coloured baggy clothes with African-inspired wax patterns on and a red waistcoat. Behind them is a frame with three arches full of orange clouds against a blue-grey background, with moons and stars outside the frame.

THE REGISTRATION IS ALWAYS SLIGHTLY OFF, AND THE COLOURS VARY DUE TO THE DOTS OVERLAPPING IN DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT I ACTUALLY LIKE THIS EFFECT A LOT.

 A photo of a full-colour CMYK risoprint against a dark red background. The print is an illustration of a young Brown woman in dark work clothes with a green shawl with gold celestial-inspired patterns around her neck. Behind her is a triangular-ended frame full of nacreous clouds against a dark background, with shooting star details outside the frame.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THIS PROJECT, CHECK OUT THE 'PROJECTS' PAGE!

 Four riso prints in different colours of the same comic page, depicting a woman falling from earth into the sea, but only half of the page is visible. left to right, the colours are pink on white, purple on blue, red on yellow, and pink on paler pink.

I ALSO PRINTED SOME PAGES FROM THE COMIC I'M WORKING ON.

 Four riso prints in different colours of the same comic page, depicting two women walking into a house, but only half of the page is visible. left to right, the colours are pink on white, pink on purple, pink on very pale green, and red on yellow.

MORE COMIC PAGES
LINO PRINTING
A product photo against a dark red background of black linoprint in black on white paper and fabric of stylized bubble text reading 'PRO WRESTLING IS FAKE AND GAY' with ring ropes reminiscent of a wrestling ring behind it.

'PRO WRESTLING IS FAKE AND GAY' LINOPRINT, CARVED ON SPEEDYCARVE LINO & PRINTED AT HOME, USING SCHMINKE COLLEGE LINOL PAPER INK AND SPEEDBALL FABRIC SCREENPRINTING INK.

 A product photo of a pile of linocuts in fluorescent pink on white paper against a blue background. The prints are of a venus sign stylised as a wheel-like angel, with wings coming out of it, eyes around the circular portion and sparkles and stars in the background.

'VENUS ANGEL' LINOPRINT. I'VE BEEN LEARNING HOW TO PRINT AT HOME USING ROLLERS, GETTING THE RIGHT PRESSURE CAN BE FINNICKY BUT IT'S WORTH IT.

 A product photo of a scattered pile of linoprints in black, and at the top, the same design on red against white paper. The design is of two spiked collars tied together, with text in front of them reading 'BE MY VALENTINE.'

'DOG COLLAR VALENTINE' LINOPRINT. VAGUELY INSPIRED BY A CM PUNK PRO WRESTLING PROMO

 Black and white digital linoprint style illustration of someone performing a moonsault from a high place, suspended in a spotlight, with a moon and wings behind them. Another figure is reaching up to catch them, and where their hands are about to meet, there's a tiny star. There is filigree in the shape of stars with wings in the corner, and the text 'SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN.'

LINOPRINT DESIGN FOR A SHORT PROMPT 'COMMEMORATE SOMETHING', INSPIRED BY KOTA IBUSHI'S INFAMOUS BALCONY MOONSAULT

 A linoprint of the same design as before.

CARVED & PRINTED AS A LINOPRINT ON JAPANESE VINYL, MY FIRST TIME USING IT! I CARVE USING WOODCUTTING KNIVES, AS THEY'RE MUCH SHARPER AND SMALLER FOR MORE DETAIL.

 A two-layer linorpint in black and red of a white man with long hair, with blood overing most of the left half of his face and dripping down his neck. He is lying on his side and looking upwards biblically.

LINOPRINT DESIGN, REFERENCING A PHOTO BY WRESTLING PHOTOGRAPHER 'HEELS HAVE MORE FUN' OF HANGMAN ADAM PAGE.

Two carved designs into Japanese Vinyl, a type of lino with a green exterior layer and a black inside. One shows an abstracted blood smear on someone's face, the other shows the shadows on that face in harsh light.

I DECIDED TO CARVE THIS ON TWO DIFFERENT PIECES OF JAPANESE VINYL, BECAUSE THE RED AND BLACK INTERACTS IN WAYS THAT WOULD BE ANNOYING TO CARVE ON ONE SHEET OF LINO.
AQUATINT ETCHING
An aquatint etching plate of a cowgirl with hat and open western shirt showing cleavage, wearing shiny jeans with plaid and heart shaped patches on. The print has a thick flower border.

'COWGALS' PRINT, MY FIRST AQUATINT ETCHING PRINT ON MY INTERNSHIP AT A PRINTMAKING STUDIO. ETCHED ON A WAX GROUND PLATE.

 The same plate, printed in red ink in a variety of tones created by the Aquatint.

PRINTED IN RED INK ON A ROLLER PRESS! I LOVED CREATING SHADING & LIGHTING EFFECTS WITH THE AQUAITNT.