Midnight Bue Silk Aquatint. Greater Horseshoe bat authentic at night.

AP means artist proof. This is not an editioned print, but I produced a couple of proofs like this, where some almost subliminal embossed twigs are visible in the background midnight blue. A Greater Horseshoe Bat hunting Maybugs, Crane flies and moths at night. This large silk aquatint print is from a set of fine art prints I produced for the Devon Wildlife Trust's bat project.

A silk aquatint is a kind of intaglio print that doesn't require harmful chemicals typical of traditional etching. The plants are inked up and arranged around the silk aquatint plate and passed through an etching press at great pressure resulting in a highly embossed, unique print. The background colour is a rich, midnight blue that looks almost black.

Paper size: 38 cm x 38 cm / 15 inches x 15 inches
Plate size: 29 cm x 31 cm / 11 ½ inches x 12 inches

Oil based authentic ink on cotton Somerset paper , signed and marked AP II (artist proof two) in pencil.
The last photo shoes some of the smaller work in this series.

I had the privilege of taking part in a couple of guided walk organised by the Devon Guild of Craftsmen with the Devon Wildlife Trust in order to learn about the bats role in the Devon ecology, and safeguarding all the elements needed for their habitat.
http://devonbatproject.org/

Prints are carefully wrapped and posted flat within a couple of days from purchase.
This artwork was conceived and created solely as an original fine art print. Unlike a gicleé print or any other computer print out, none of my prints are reproductions of a pre-existing painting or drawing.

I like to use top quality heavy weight paper (this one is Somerset 300gm cotton paper) so It is best not to roll up prints for posting, especially when the printing process results in a fair amount of embossing. I will therefore only ship my prints flat and protected with card.