Clip from a film produced in 1958, narrated by Beaumont Newhall, who was the curator of the George Eastman House.

Bass Legend and Photographer Tony Levin’s King Crimson Print Collection Available for Pre-Orders, Shipping Early 2022

• Eight stunning, limited-edition prints spanning Tony Levin’s work with King Crimson since the early 1980s
• Every print is signed, numbered, and certified by Intaglio Editions LLC
• Prints are made by contemporary photogravure printmaker, Jon Lybrook
• Available as individual prints or in a limited-edition, custom-crafted clamshell print collection box
• The first public orders are assigned print numbers 11-50 out of 500 prints total in each edition
• Pre-orders are now being accepted at TonyLevinPrints.com

“Tony Levin is not a bassist. He just happens to play the bass.” – Robert Fripp

Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) has been photographing his touring experiences since the early 1980s. Tens of thousands of photos later, he’s compiled eight of his favorite photographic moments from forty years of touring with King Crimson. These prints include:

1. Adrian Belew, Backstage 1981
2. Bill Bruford, Bristol 1981
3. King Crimson, Faro, Portugal 1982
4. King Crimson, Royal Albert Hall 2019
5. King Crimson, Asbury Park 1982
6. On the Shinkansen 1981
7. Perkins Palace Marquee 1981
8. Robert Fripp, Krakow 2018

This collection is a must-have for any serious King Crimson collector and can be purchased as a set or individually. Tony’s photography offers a unique perspective from the stage that cannot be replicated.

All photos are hand-titled and signed by Tony Levin. They are a limited print run of 500 photogravure prints. The first public orders of the Special Edition Box are assigned print numbers 11-50.

Each print is handmade on a traditional intaglio press using materials that will last for generations. They are printed with low or acid-free ink on 22.25 x 15.5” Hahnemuhle Copperplate Brite White, 300 g/sm alpha cellulose paper with torn, deckled edges. These same ink and paper formulas used in Tony Levin’s print collection have been used by printmakers in Europe for hundreds of years.

Signed and stamped certificates of authenticity are issued with every print.

The traditional, fabric-lined, limited-edition, clamshell-style, 24” x 17” print collection box for Tony Levin’s King Crimson Print Collection is custom-crafted using archive-grade materials for storing and preserving prints cleanly and elegantly. Cotton gloves are included for clean handling of the prints.

“Jon Lybrook is a true master. His prints exude an expertise, that only very few fine art printers in the world control on the same level.” – Professor Henrik Bøegh – Grafisk Eksperimentarium – Copenhagen, Denmark

Jon Lybrook is a Fine Art Printmaker based in Colorado. Jon has worked with photographers and artists for nearly two decades through his company, Intaglio Editions LLC (https://intaglioeditions.com/). He has studied the craft with traditional printmakers from around the world including Henrik Boegh, Dan Welden, Mark Lunning, Ron Pokrasso, David Hoptman, and has worked as both a printmaker and consultant.

Watch the Make Weird Music interview with Tony about his history with photography and art:

To pre-order: https://TonyLevinPrints.com

Colored ink renders a photographic image much differently than black ink-only, as any printmaker knows. At Intaglio Editions we offer two generic ink profiles for our plate customers: Graphical and Continuous Tone. Continuous Tone plates are designed to work best with the blackest inks to create richness and tones similar to platinium/plalladium prints, but with greater relief details in the shadows, not found with other approaches.

When colored inks are desired, the process is to measure and mix the ink to get to an initial color or set of colors. The ink combination is then wiped into a baseline step test plate which is then printed, dried for a week or so, and scanned. The data is then measured and transferred into a spreadsheet or computer program.

Areas of the step test that appear blocked up together, or too light or too dark can then be manipulated in a process compensation curve or using 3rd-party RIP software like Quad Tone RIP. This data is then used to craft a customized plate of the artwork in the desired ink color.

Because ink color is hard to reproduce from batch to batch, traditional printmakers will keep careful track of their formulae as well as the B.A.T., or master print, in order to match the color again, should it be necessary to replace a print or if the artist has another image they want to edition and have it match. Every color ink may have its own unique physical properties which must be taken into account when formulating the proper consistency.

Body, Length and Tack are a few of the main qualities that affect the ink and how it is received by the plate’s matrix. In some cases, the amount of plate tone and contrast can vary a bit, until the plate has been properly seasoned and the ink’s step test is properly dried and analyzed. The ink is then modified to suit the needs of the piece.

The video below demonstrates a step test ink comparison we did while providing photogravure consulting for the great-grandson of the legendary American photographer Edward Curtis. The image we made the plate from in this video was taken from a scan of a vintage, glass plate copy negative. Alas, most of the original films that remained in tact were donated to The Smithsonian and unavailable for their project at the time.

From this video you can see how even relatively graphical images contain nuances of continuous tone and relief in the shadow details that make the difference between a more traditional-quality photogravure print, and one that looks like a flat, slightly depressed and grainy inkjet print. We of course aim to produce the former using traditional approaches and 15 years of experience exclusively specializing in polymer photogravure.

For more information about Intaglio Editions projects, and contracting with us on your own printmaking project, please visit our website at https://shop.intaglioeditions.com.

Hi Jon,

I am an artist in Edinburgh, UK and a member of Edinburgh Printmakers. My practice includes filmmaking, photography and printmaking.

For the past 18 months I have been exploring the potential of photopolymer in relation to my film work and photography. I have followed your videos and blogs assiduously and found them very helpful. Generally I have been reasonably successful in producing a series of A3 photopolymer prints but just lately I have been plagued by scratches which as you might expect are often in critical areas and are very dispiriting.

These are dark scratches in the prints but correspond to visible scratches on the plate when examined carefully. I have gone carefully through all the stages in making the plate to try and eliminate the potential for scratches. I do use a communal workshop so it can be difficult to eliminate all variables or keep a dust free environment.

I use a Boxcar brush for washout which I have had for about 14 months and use for one plate making session weekly since I bought it. I also use an antistatic brush (Kinetronics StaticWisk hand held anti-static brushes are used for cleaning lenses, films, scanners, cameras, plastics, acrylics, jewellery, glass, monitors, instruments and technical equipment on the plate before exposure to the aquatint screen and again before exposure to the image acetate to ensure that the surface of the polymer does not have dust particles that might cause dust flares.

Checking the plate after each stage of the procedure, I have noticed scratches immediately after washout and drying. I use newsprint, paper towels and a hairdryer to dry the plate. I have thought that maybe I have been using too much pressure on the Boxcar brush and today I really tried to exert just the pressure of the weight of the brush with very little extra from my hand. I use elliptical movements across the long and short lengths of the plate and then if I have time diagonally as well. I soak the plate initially for 1 minute, washout with the brush for one and half minutes and then rinse for one minute. Even today being so careful with the brush, there were again scratches visible just after washout and drying. It’s getting to be a bit disheartening.

My photopolymer plates are Toyobo KM95GR which I get from Allflexo in the Netherlands.

Do you have any suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong?

All the best,

Olga Kaliszer

Hi Olga,

Thanks for your email. Scratches should not be too difficult to track down.  Not exerting any pressure on the brush is the way to go. I  also use gentle, small, circular strokes when washing out the plate.  

The plates are most susceptible to scratching during washout, of course. Unlike your approach, I do the washout for two minutes and do not soak the plate in a tray, rather I keep it on an angle, pour water over the plate a little at a time as I ‘scrub’ the plate lightly and methodically.  I then give it a final rinse, blot with newsprint, then dry for 5 minutes with a hairdryer, put in my plate drier for 10 minutes, post expose for 5 minutes, then do a final round of hardening in the plate drier for 25 minutes. I’d suggest not soaking the plate and increase the washout time.  Bear in mind, this may change how much exposure you need to give the plates and may cause you to have to recalibrate the times.

Feel free to send images demonstrating the scratches. The pattern in the scratches should give you an indication of when they are happening. Good luck tracking down the cause and finding a solution. Also, is it okay with you if I post your question and response on my blog?  It may help another person with a similar problem one day.

Best wishes,

Jon