In February 1986 while working on Opera designs, Hockney began experimenting with photocopiers to produce what he described as "home-made prints." Employing traditional printmaking processes and using high quality Arches paper, the artist fed the sheets through an office photocopier until each colour had been added. In addition he also placed his vividly striped shirt on the machine. As the
catalogue of the Morgan Library’s edition of the print says ‘’though created with modern technology the image has a playful directness that reveals the artist’s hand.’’

For Hockney the process was revelatory: "With these copying machines, I can work by myself - indeed you virtually have to work by yourself, there’s nothing for anyone else to do - and I can work with great speed and responsiveness. In fact, this is the closest I’ve ever come in printing to what it's like to paint: I can put something down, evaluate it, alter it, revise it, all in a matter of seconds.’’ (LACMA, Metropolitan, Tate Hockney Retrospective 1988 p.78).


There are other editions of this print in LACMA and The Morgan Library, New York.