These prints were based on a photograph of 33 Thompson Street, in New York. It's known for being the skyscraper without windows. The original photograph itself shows an interesting example of perspective.
To make these prints, I scratched into the surface of plexiglass, applied ink, removed the excess, then used a press to transfer it to paper.
The reason that plexiglass was used was because it was transparent, allowing me to place a reference image underneath to trace over. The photograph of the building was manipulated in photoshop so as to reduce it to black/white and bring out the lines, making it easier to trace. Because my image contained so many straight lines, I used a ruler to help with tracing. It took quite a long time, and forgetting that the print would be a mirror image, I neglected to reverse the original printout. (Thankfully, there was no text made illegible.)
For one print, I used red ink. I then embellished the print by painting in the sky with watercolors. I used a graduated wash to make it darker at the bottom and lighter at the top, giving the impression of sunlight shining from above. I also outlined other buildings in the image with pen.
For the other print, I used both red and blue ink, which then became purple. This color is my personal favorite, and I think that especially for cityscapes, it stands very well on its own.
In the end, both prints came out quite cleanly, and distinctly presented the building.
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