Breakdown printing results, and, rust dyeing

Here is the result of the breakdown printing I did from the screen I prepared a couple of days ago. I am somewhat underwhelmed by the outcome.

This piece started at the drop cloth under the screen while it was drying. Then I printed over it with the screen. Again, fairly underwhelming. I like the idea of this style of printing, and I have seen some wonderful examples -clearly it takes time and planning to get good results, although I also understand that part of the appeal is that you can't plan too much, and there is a significant element of serendipity and surprise. I guess right now, I am looking to focus on things that will help me produce the sort of work I have had in my head for a long time - and right now, this technique isn't going to help me achieve that, so I am happy to put it aside.

I did however get to try another one of those 'must give that a go sometime' things - rust dyeing using iron sulphate, tannin and lye. There is an excellent tutorial here, which I followed (more or less). If you visit, follow the links to Lynda's (Purple Missus) blog where she tried it too - lots of wonderful photos.

Here are my results

This piece started off as a failed early attempt at breakdown printing using thickened dye - just about anything would make this look better, so I had nothing to lose.

This was the hand dyed piece from yesterday that I monoprinted on from the last of the gelatin plate. It was already dyed in blue/orange, so this treatment just enhanced those colours.

This piece started off as a traditionally rusted piece which was a bit eye-poppingly orange for my taste, and the contrast with the stark white background was too much. I much prefer this version.