My new Akua Intaglio inks arrived on Saturday and I was thrilled with the results when I did some test prints with the black ink straight out of the jar. The image below is part of a linoleum block print that was inspired by the women dancing with gifts at my brother's wedding reception in Africa. http://weblog.xanga.com/McArtsy/663116830/congo-wedding-reception---wedding-3.html

I changed a few other factors as well in my printing process including using regular card stock instead of the blank cards which have some kind of coating on them, and using my new little Speedball Model B Press. I was able to consistently get good prints once I'd gotten the hang of the right amount of ink and pressure.

My pleasure in the new inks dropped somewhat today, however, as I mixed up a new color and found that it did not print well at all. I was back to some of the same problems with the Akua Kolor inks- the ink was not stiff enough and sort of melted down into the carved areas. I came to realize that the black ink and few others had a thicker texture and did not seem to need to be stirred to mix the pigment. The other colors were a thinner consistency and the pigment was separating. I went back to the Akua website and sure enough, found mention of a new formula. I believe the new formula is the one like better, which is promising, but for the time being I'm limited in what I can make. Frustrating!