Art Articles & Reviews

} Dry copier toner techniques Printmaking Series - Part 14 of 21 By Nik Semenoff Laser printers and copiers use pigments imbedded in various plastic materials according to the need of the machine and patent rights. Most are 90% plastic with carbon pigment as the coloring agent. We are interested mainly in the black toner and it makes no difference if it comes from laser printers or copiers. To better understand your material, I suggest you do a simple test to see if it is affected by hydrocarbons. This knowledge can be helpful under certain circumstances and the image desired. I have designated toner to be either type A or B; or somewhere on the continuum. Type A are not affected by hydrocarbons such as white gas or common paint thinner and can be used to produce washes blocked out with gum. Type B toner can be bonded to the surface with white gas when using it on stone and is the most common material available these days. Both types can be bonded with heat, preferably from a paint stripping heat gun. The principle of using toner for image making is that it will not create an image in traditional lithography until is it bonded to the surface. This allows the artist to puddle the wash until satisfied - a dangerous undertaking with grease materials. Then the gum etch will desensitize the stone or plate and allow one to remove the toner mask and replace it with a good printing base. In waterless lithography, again it acts like a delicate mask to prevent silicone contacting the aluminium plate. Most will use it as a replacement to tusche washes, as it produces more varieties of textures than grease. When used in a paste-like mix, it will retain the line textures of the brush. Diluted with water and various surfactants, the reticulation can be exciting and controlled to a greater extent. Alcohol can be used with most toners but I suggest testing the product first as alcohol may dissolve one of the plastics and enlarge the dot structure. To make up a stock mix of toner one should acquire a small wide top bottle with a good cap. Put in about ¼ water and a few drops of surfactant. Add toner to twice the water volume, close the bottle and shake. In a few seconds the toner should be wet and ready to dilute for imaging. I use an old dinner plate on which a put a small amount of the toner and add water to get the effect I want. Different surfactants have various effects so experiment with what is around the house or studio. Do not use too much surfactant as it can prevent the toner particles adhering to the substrate. If you do not like the results of the drawing, just remove the toner with a wet sponge and try again. As long as all the particles are removed, the background will print clean - otherwise the characteristics of toner will produce a light tint. After the water has evaporated, the toner is bonded unto the surface. You can tell if it is bonded as the surface changes from matte to a glossy exterior. If you are doing traditional lithography, the toner is best removed with a 1:1 mix of acetone and lacquer thinner. Waterless plates are washed out with a mix of acetone and about 5-10% brake fluid. This mix retards the evaporation of the dissolved toner and allows one to use soapy water to remove it from the surface. This procedure greatly reduces the amount of acetone needed to make the plate ready for printing. The plate is printed without any print base necessary as the ink will chemically bond to the aluminium surface. Very delicate tints are possible in both lithographic methods, but waterless produces the best as there is no acid to destroy the finest particles. ________________________________________________ Copyright © 2004 Nik Semenoff Nik Semenoff Artist-in-residence University of Saskatchewan Visit Nik Semenoff's website at duke.usask.ca/~semenoff/ for more information.