Well, the best kind of surprise occured when doing what is called a “ghost print.” The rest of the class got a chuckle when I about lost my mind over it. If I hadn’t been there to see how it happened I would never have figured the process.
A “ghost print” is a print you can make once you have completed the intended print. You send the plate through the press again as it usually has enough ink on it to make one or two ghost prints. With these works, I took off the stencils and then made the ghost print. That’s why the magic happened. Edgar Degas is known for making gorgeous ghost prints. I didn’t make this up!
What a gift that student gave me. And what a surprise birthday party sort of a thing art is. Never quite knowing how something is going to turn out and then getting to see how it turns out, well, I can’t get enough of it. And I can’t wait to be wrong again.
The example below is of a ghost's ghost.