About “Summer”

 
The Inspiration ”Summer” is a picture of the blossoms of the crepe myrtle tree. I first noticed crepe myrtle years ago on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware where we have gone for the past forty years to the beach. The crepe myrtle has very pretty full blossoms in a variety of colors. When I returned from the beach after first noticing crepe myrtle, I wanted to plant a tree or two in my own yard. I was told the winter climate in the city was too harsh for them to survive. Wind the clock forward thirty or so years and crepe myrtle now grows quite well throughout the Washington, DC area. A benefit of global warming! “Summer” was made as a companion print to an earlier flower picture, “Spring”. My goal is to create a seasonal series. The Print “Summer” is an 8 color print. A pale violet was used as a foundation, an underlayment. Then, three colors were used for the background, a violet, a turquoise, and a light yellow, the latter of which was blended with one of the first two to create two different blended backgrounds. This print was made using the four-color CMYK process that is used by many commercial printers as well as for printing color pictures in newspapers. “CMYK” stands for four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). A halftone plate is created for each process color and is printed in such a way that the four colors are juxtaposed with one another so that the eye perceives a wide range of colors. In the case of “Summer”, there are greens, brown, and many shades of purple, although only the four process colors were used. Looked at from a distance, the halftone dots fade into the overall image with many color gradations. The prints were made on Arches 88 paper. Images are 12½” x 12½” on 19” x 19” sheets. Speedball Acrylic Screen Printing Inks were used. Adobe Photoshop was used for developing the screenprinting plates. Ten prints are included in the edition, five with a violet background and five with a turquoise background. The project was completed in October 2013. Progression Series The print progression showing the development of “Summer” can be seen in a series of five figures. The first two images show the blended backgrounds which were created using four colors printed in three layers. These are followed by four additional images showing the CMYK layers.
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Plates1-3 (Background)

Plates 1-4 (Cyan)

Plates 1-6 (Yellow)

Plates 1-5 (Magenta)

Plates 1-7 (Black) (Final Print)