[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking

Baren Digest             Thursday, 4 December 1997     Volume 01 : Number 006

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From: David Bull <davebull@asahi-net.email.ne.jp>
Date: Thu, 04 Dec 1997 08:23:37 +0900
Subject: [Baren 32] Re: Printing schedule

In [Baren 28] Matt wrote:
> Once Dave you mentioned something about using gum arabic instead of glue. Have
> you experienced a difference between the two? When I'm using gum arabic is that
> functioning about like the glue or am I missing something?

Matthew and I had been talking about glues a while ago, back in the dark
ages before [Baren] started up (I think it was two weeks ago):

>
Matt said:
He was using glues with his pigments (heated hide glues, mostly) to achieve
great build-up of color and insisted you couldn't print with rice paste alone.

Dave said:
I'm using glue too, as are all the traditional printmakers here that
I've met so far.  The rice paste only comes into play as things are
going onto the block.  The glue is mixed into the pigment when it is
being prepared.  Everybody keeps an old saucepan filled with crusty
remnants of glue, and they pass this to their wives to heat up for them
as necessary (over a pan of hot water, like a double boiler system).
(I've found that it's convenient to use the microwave for this ...)

The basic recipe is:
- - grind the pigments while dry (on a glass sheet, hard wood block, or in a mortar)
- - add water bit by bit to dissolve it (alcohol in the case of those pigments which do not readily dissolve in water - vermillion, indigo, some of the reds ...)
- - grind together until creamy
- - add the glue (in liquid form)  (Gum Arabic also works fine ...)
- - if felt necessary, strain through a sieve to remove particles
- - dilute as needed for lighter shades

At printing time:
- - a swab of pigment mix on the block
- - a 'dab' of paste on the block

What are the different functions of the glue and the paste?  A good
question, to which I for one would like to hear a satisfying answer.
Without glue, deep pigment tones certainly lack body, and I suspect that
they would perhaps be prone to 'dusting' from the surface of a print
after many years had passed.  Without paste, it is difficult to make a
smooth application of colour to the print, the printed area is
'speckled' and blotchy.  I personally don't think that either of them is
for the purpose of making the pigment 'stick' to the surface of the
paper; as the pigments are driven well into the body of the paper by the
baren ...

As an aside, I should say that before I learned about this glue, I
simply printed with dissolved pigments and paste, and those prints sure
look OK to my eyes, even some ten-odd years later.  And I have noticed
on visits to printmakers that, sometimes at least, when they are
printing delicate shades, there is no glue in the mix ...  And as one
further note, I just now referred to an illustrated (Japanese) book on
printmaking prepared by one of the oldest established publishers
(Adachi), and see that they don't mention glue in their description of
the pigment preparation.

 (end quote)
>

Checking a bit further into this now, I see that in the couple of
modern-era books on printmaking that I have at hand, they specify Gum
Arabic rather than hide glue, but I've never seen any of the traditional
workers using it.

For myself now, I'm using hide glue, but rather than having some in a
saucepan and heating it up as necessary, I use the bottled 'Liquid Hide
Glue'.)  From November or so up until about March, it's not actually
liquid as it stands on my desk, but 30 seconds in the microwave just
before I need to use it takes care of that problem ...)

I really don't think there is much difference between these
alternatives, and the chemistry boys would probably tell us that they
are made of pretty much the same stuff.  They certainly have the same
effect in the pigment - thickening and adding body.

And if you were to show me two prints, one made with Gum Arabic, and one
with hide glue, there is no way on earth that I would be able to tell
you which is which ...

***

As a parenthetical note on this, I have an appointment to visit one of
the older printers this coming Saturday afternoon.  I've met him any
number of times at meetings of the 'Tokyo Traditional Woodblock
Printmakers'  Association', but I've never had a chance to spend time
chatting, and this is the first time I've been to his home.   I've of
course got the usual long list of questions, and I'll add this one to
the list ...

I'll tell him about [Baren], and that this 'question' comes from
overseas ...   Shall I 'report back to you' after the visit?

Dave Bull

(I'd better start using my last name as well on postings from now on, as
I had a message from the server program that a new 'Dave' has joined the
[Baren] list.  'Hello Dave - come 'out' and say 'hello' to us one day ...!'

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End of Baren Digest V1 #6
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