Printing Process - Mixing Colours for LY
Formulating the correct colours to interpret LY’s paintings as silkscreen prints is perhaps a far greater challenge than an image with many vibrant colours. I would describe LY’s colours as complex ‘chromatic greys’.
In printing, chromatic greys are colours that are very close to the neutral axis of a given colourspace, digital or analog. Colours are generally described by three main qualities; hue, saturation and value. A tiny variation in any of these can jolt a chromatic grey into having a particular colour bias and compromise the balance of an artwork. Think of it like cooking, with various spices and seasoning.
Another interesting fact about many of the chromatic greys used in LY’s silkscreen prints is that they are not simply made from, black, white and one other colour. Although it is true that black and white will form a base for the grey, we will often also include colours that are opposite on the colour wheel, such and red and green. These opposites desaturate each other and create a colour complexity to the light reflected from surface of the printed ink that a digital process could never achieve.
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Always interesting to learn about the details of making prints. @tommurphy How do you go about formulating the colors? Do you have a baseline you start with and then go from there? Do you consult with the artist at any point? Thanks!
8 months ago·
Never would have thought greys would be so complicated or made from contrasting colours! So cool to see 🌪
8 months ago·
@tommurphy