Another "Springer" piece

Finally finished the film positive of another image in my "Springer" http://hardpressed-treetopstudio.blogspot.com/2012/07/first-of-series.html series; a combination of a photograph and drawing that was manipulated in Photoshop and then printed out on drafting Mylar at a local print shop.

The last time I used their services, I found that the blacks weren't dark enough because their large format printer is used for line work and not images. To compensate, I had them print two copies which I went back into with some additional handwork. I carefully lined up the two images and taped them together. In the proofs, the blacks printed much darker so hopefully I'll be happy with the final plate.

The image will measure approximately 20"x14", which is fairly large for a costly Solarplate. I spent the morning using leftover scraps of plates to test the exposure time for this particular image and then crossed my fingers and went ahead and exposed the plate.

The plate looks promising. I have it sitting out on the drawing table to harden. I'm so anxious to pull a proof but I know I'll be much better off letting it sit over night to fully cure.