Diebenkorn routinely cut up working proofs, pasting or pinning them onto others. Touched Red exemplifies this practice: eight cutouts are pasted onto working proof 3; almost thirty are pasted onto working proof 8; and two are pinned to working proof 10. Using this provisional method, Diebenkorn tested possible solutions and registered his next move. For example, he replaced the mushroom-like mass in the upper left in proofs 3 (see banner, above) by pinning a rectangle over it in proof 10; the rectangle was subsequently etched into the plate — permanently, for it appears in the final print (see slideshow, above).
Banner image: Detail, Richard Diebenkorn, Green (working proof 7), 1986, color spitbite aquatint, soapground aquatint, and drypoint with pasted-down elements, Kathan Brown, © The Estate of Richard Diebenkorn