What did the job entail?

The prints were designed by Jacinta Sullivan and printed by David Borrington of Baldock-based Dekkle Printmaking Studios. While the majority of the run was produced in black and silver, 220 prints were produced in black and gold. This was done to highlight the additional pressure faced by one quarter of the gorilla population – those that live in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where, until recently, there were proposals to prospect for oil in the area.

How was it produced?

The prints were produced on Dekkle’s hand-operated 1878 Albion press. The stock used was Antalis’ Conqueror Bamboo, which is made from a mixture of FSC-certified wood fibres and bamboo fibre. The ‘Tragically, a Limited Edition’ prints were produced on the natural white 350gsm version.

What challenges were overcome?

Producing the prints took Dekkle eight days of solid work. The main challenge was a logistical one. “Our maximum run-length is usually around 50 so the studio is not really set up to print 880, and we had to print around 100 extra as with this kind of process sometimes things just don’t line up,” said David Borrington, co-owner of Dekkle Printmaking Studios. “To help, we shortened drying times from around three weeks to five days by adding cobalt driers to the inks. We had to add more to the gold ink as that was a bit thicker.” 

What was the feedback?

“It was really fantastic to use print techniques that are also a little bit endangered and David did such a fantastic job; everyone was just blown away by the quality,” said Sullivan. She added that over 200 of the prints had already been sold to raise money for WWF, and that plans to drill for oil in Virunga had for the moment been halted.