From these original plates on coated linen Elizabeth Durack
went on to produce some 100s of prints all of which she finished in watercolour,
with variations.
Before the late 1960s diazo, dyeline or ‘blue’ printing was
the only low cost means of reproducing drawings. It was a method used mainly by
architects and engineers but also by some fine artists — including Andy Warhol
early in his career. MacDougall Brothers in Howard Street, Perth, were
leading printers in the field and it was through them that Elizabeth Durack obtained
the base for her prints.
Subsequent advances in printing technology supplanted the diazo process and the paper it utilised became unavailable. No other low cost (yet
ever labour-intensive) method of reproduction was as well-suited to Elizabeth
Durack’s style.