White Balance

Cathy Savage
Raleigh Means Field of Birds,
Monoprint, 16 x 16"

I have a fancy camera (40th bday present from my sis!!) and even though I took a photography class in college, the whole f-stop business is a little too much for me, so my camera is usually on Auto (no flash) when I photograph my work for my portfolio. If the light is coming through just right, I take pictures in our family room on a white wall. Otherwise I revert to my cramped home studio nook, where the walls are a buttery yellow. I've noticed my camera translates the buttery yellow into white if it doesn't have a reference, therefore changing the color of the artwork slightly. In this shot I have a white piece of paper tacked behind my image so the camera knows what's up. One of these days I'll change the buttery yellow to white, but for now the sheet of printer paper is helping. I'll crop and adjust in Photoshop before finalizing.

The print is a collagraph a la poupee (color applied all at once on plate and run through press once) with additional hand work. This came off the press only 3x about 3 years ago. I turned one into an encaustic piece that is for sale right now at Haven Gallery, then I have this one, and I think I have one in BW floating around somewhere. I can't remember why I never editioned the dang thing. One day... But for now, this image is considered a monoprint.