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Original Lithographs by Parks Reece. Page 2...
Using a press, Parks and Chuck apply the color to its plate. The part of the plate Parks has drawn on attracts and holds the greasy ink, whereas the part he hasn't drawn on repels the ink and remains dry. Again with the help of a press, the ink is transferred from the plate to a piece of paper, and the visual quality produced by the transfer is critically evaluated. Based on the outcome of this first step, another mylar sheet is hand-drawn, a second aluminum plate is made, the ink color is carefully chosen, and it is once again applied to the paper with the press. Because the process is somewhat unpredictable, it amounts to a game of reacting, a "Ping-Pong" match involving the artist, the pressman, and the idiosyncrasies of the lithographic process. Each step, and the results produced by each plate, begin to accumulate as the process is repeated, so the artist has to anticipate and visualize not only how each plate will look when printed in color ink on paper, but also how the cumulative effects from all the colors will interact and present themselves on the paper. In essence, this complicated and beautiful process converts paper and ink into a limited edition of originals, "original" because in fact there are no other versions of each piece that preexist the lithographs themselves. After all the originals are made, the pressman carefully records the colors of inks used at each step, but the plates are destroyed so it is impossible to make more originals. Always immersing himself in the process, Parks emerges from the lithography studio feeling elated after having had an experience that draws him back into the studio again and again.
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