Color Choices are Significant

 Once the original image is inked on the block and printed, the color can be mixed or a pure color from the product can be used. 

Block print - Daniel Smith black relief ink.

I decided to go with an FW pearlescent ink that seemed to be a close match to the natural colors of the bird.  Although the glisteny quality of the ink does not reproduced in the giclee process, the color still seems to be accurate even when "flat."  As you may remember, one of the attributes I appreciate the most about the FW inks is their integrity.  Once they are dry, they will not activate with water, more ink.....or any other liquid. 

Adult flamingo block print- Black Daniel Smith relief ink and FW acrylic inks - hand painted on Strathmore 400 series print paper.

One of the challenges of the FW ink is the difference in texture appearance between the original painted surface and the copy of the image.  Weak, thin, and irregularly color-dense areas only appear in the copy and not in the original with the pearlescent inks.  I have tried to enhance the copy images by repainting these surfaces with the original ink and, if the paper is water and ink friendly, this works well.  This makes the decisions about copy substrate so important.

An advantage of hand coloring block prints is the range of opportunities to make color decisions based on the purpose of the print.  For example, I used the print above (with the salmony-pink ink,) to create a flamingo true to the beauties in the wild.  The flamingo below, however, has been colored with a hot pink color to fit a more stereotyped creature whose plastic cousins have been know to flock onto front yards to commemorate landmark birthdays. 

Flamingo block print - Black Daniel Smith relief ink and Derwent Inktense pencils activated with water. 

Both images serve a purpose, but because of their colors, they are not the same, nor are they interchangeable.