[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Friday, 26 June 1998 Volume 03 : Number 194 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Gayle Wohlken Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 11:37:41 -0400 Subject: [Baren 998] Re: Baren Digest V3 #193 Baren, This is for James since I've been experimenting with his "ways". Maybe others trying this needle/razor method would be interested in his answer. The first question: How deep do you needle, James? My biggest question: How do you proof without ruining the look of the block. I found when I pulled a proof the block was so uncleanable and the needling so subtle, I lost my way to get back in there and do what needed to be done? I'm working on one now that I started last week and I'm wondering if it's ready, but I don't want to mess it up. Do you varnish these, James (I mean after the razoring and needling, etc. and before you pull the first proof?) Gayle Wohlken ------------------------------ From: Sheryl Coppenger Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 12:45:11 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Baren 999] Re: Phillips essay ... Dave wrote (about Walter Phillips essay): > It's at > http://www.sharecom.ca/phillips/essay2.html Thanks. I experimented, was able to get to it directly but not via the links on http://www.sharecom.ca/phillips/essay.html. Interesting essay. Once again, though, he's talking about relief printing the blocks instead of intaglio printing them. He's using the engraving tools to remove the white line. The more I think about it, the more this "intaglio printing of wood blocks" bothers me. In addition to the wiping problems, it takes a lot of pressure to suck the ink up from an intaglio plate. How do they print an edition without breaking the wood block? Sorry, folks, I'm beginning to think maybe I'm from Missouri. :-) BTW, all this wood engraving talk is making me want to work on one. As I mentioned earlier I think, Graphic Chemical has backordered the end-grain maple. I spoke to them this morning and they have no estimated delivery on that. :-( Sheryl Coppenger ------------------------------ From: jimandkatemundie@juno.com (James G Mundie) Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 13:45:41 -0400 Subject: [Baren 1000] Osorio print has arrived Well folks, I now have the much speculated Mexican woodcut in my hot little hands. I'm overall very pleased with the impression-- crisp black ink on beige laid paper (watermark says "Ticonderoga Text"), neither signed nor numbered. The sheet is about 12.5" x 9.5" (31.5cm x 23.5), the image 8.5" x 5.75" (22cm x 14.5cm). The image seems to have been printed using a press. The print depicts a bearded man in traditional Mexican badit attire (sombrero, serape, sandals-- the whole bit) perhaps running while attempting to load his rifle. There is corona behind and on either side of the figure suggestive of wings. At first glance, I thought that perhaps the vendor was mistaken and this print was actually a linocut. The wavy curved cuts around the figure and the even gouge widths seemed to support this; however, closer inspection revealed lines _within_ some of these "gouge marks"-- indicating that these could only have been cut with a blade. Further more, in one of the black areas, there is the faintest indication of woodgrain. Overall, Osorio's cutting (as Roger noted) has very much the appearance of wood engraving, using white line to describe the forms and textures Yes, Dave, this is certainly from a broken folio. I worked-- briefly-- for the most disreputable and unscrupulous print dealer (and internationally known as such, at that), whose greatest pleasure it was to razor Redoute/'s from their original bindings, mark them up (to between six and twelve thosand dollars) and sell them framed to wealthy fools needing something to decorate their dining rooms. Customers were always concerned about how much the print would be worth sevral years down the road, hoping to later "cash in" on their "investment". That awful man (you don't know the half of it) was marketing "big names" rather than any sort of true aesthetic experience. I didn't buy this little unsigned Osorio hoping one day I could sell it at a profit. I feel a bit guilty by not having the entire folio, but the damage was done before I came along. At this point (and price!) I figure better that an appreciative audience own it and study it. Sla/inte, James Mundie, Philadelphia USA ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 06:25:07 +0900 Subject: [Baren 1001] Printmaking Biennial Note: Although the header says that this message is from Dave, it is actually being forwarded from Roxanne Sexauer, new [Baren] member. --- begin forwarded message --- Dear Fellow Woodcutters, I am a new member of this quite wonderfully informative group, and also the Chair of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society's 15th National Biennial Exhibition. If you wish a prospectus, please send me a message via email, & I'll get one to you ASAP. More info on the show follows below. Tulip wood....my students (at California State University, Long Beach) use it all of the time & find it easy & responsive to cut, even with the cheapest & dullest of tools. My understanding is that the variety from Brazil is an endangered wood, as compared to that milled & grown locally (USA). If any of you are in this area, we get it from a company called "Beagle Easel" here in Long Beach. Yrs. Roxanne Sexauer CALL FOR ENTRIES LOS ANGELES PRINTMAKING SOCIETY FIFTEENTH NATIONAL BIENNIAL EXHIBITION The Los Angeles Printmaking Society is once again sponsoring a print competition and exhibition open to all printmakers in the USA and Canada. The juror will be Gordon L. Fuglie, Director, Loyola Marymount's Laband Art Gallery and graphic arts curator and critic. There will be a minimum of $3,000 in awards and a catalogue will be published. In addition, accepted artists will become full members of LAPS. All print media are acceptable with the exception of traditional photography. The exhibition will run from January 15 to February 20, 1999 at the Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University. There will be a fee of $20 for LAPS members and $25 for non-members for a total of 3 slides. 5 slides may be submitted for $25 members and $30 non-members. The post-marked slide deadline is July 13, 1998. For a prospectus, please write and enclose a legal size stamped envelope to: LAPS 15th National c/o Roxanne Sexauer, Associate Professor Art Department California State University, Long Beach 1250 Bellflower Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90840-3501 Tel: (562) 985-7866 email: woodcuts@concentric.net Additional Information In order to represent selected printmakers in depth, the juror may select more than one work by each artist for exhibition. The preliminary selection will be made from the slides submitted by means of a blind jurying procedure. Only the projected image, not the artist's name will be available to the juror. --- end forwarded message --- ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 07:31:26 +0900 Subject: [Baren 1002] Re: Phillips essay ... Sheryl wrote: > The more I think about it, the more this "intaglio printing of wood > blocks" bothers me. In addition to the wiping problems, it takes a > lot of pressure to suck the ink up from an intaglio plate. How do > they print an edition without breaking the wood block? OK Missouri lady, and other skeptics out there :-)> (I've got a beard, don't you know!) ... here's something for you. http://www.woodblock.com/forum/archives/vol03/extras/gill.jpg http://www.woodblock.com/forum/archives/vol03/extras/gill_close.jpg These are scans of two prints side-by-side printed from an engraved block (the second scan is a close-up). In each scan the left image is printed in the 'normal' way, with the ink up on the relief surfaces of the block. The right hand one is printed in 'intaglio' fashion, with the ink down in the engraved lines. The print is by Eric Gill, and I scanned it from the book 'Wood Engraving and Woodcuts' by Clare Leighton. She wrote this about Gill's work: "Eric Gill has printed this block, Girl With Cloak, in two ways - (a) surface printing and (b) intaglio. In the intaglio print the ink has been rubbed into the engraved lines and wiped off from the surface of the block. This is the same principle as etching, and is very rarely used with the wood block. Greater pressure is needed in the printing, which must be done on a press, and the paper must be damped." *** And _another_ in the continuing series of interesting printmakers popping up on the web ... Robert Dvorak http://www.youcreate.com/woodcuts.htm Very interesting ... very large ... Make sure you read the dimensions! *** Jim wrote, in [Baren 1000]: >I feel a bit guilty by not having the entire folio, but the damage was >done before I came along. At this point (and price!) I figure better >that an appreciative audience own it and study it. Jim, please don't take this as a personal criticism, but I don't see it that way. It's easy to say to oneself 'the damage is already done', but actually by buying one of these broken books we are encouraging the dealer to do it again. Only if _nobody_ bought these things, would they stop ... I saw some _beautiful_ book pages from the Hokusai '100 Views of Fuji' in a shop in London, and deeply lusted after them. I'll _never_ be able to afford an entire volume, but to have just one page ... I had to wrestle with myself for a while, but ended up not buying any ... In the case of an unbound folio of prints, I guess it's not so bad; the prints are loose, and aren't harmed by the separation. And when they find 'good homes' as in this case ... I guess I shouldn't complain ... Dave P.S. This is unrelated to printmaking, but if you've been using Yahoo and Alta Vista and such places to do your web searching, you might like to try this alternative sometimes: http://www.askjeeves.com It goes 'wrong' sometimes, but overall, I've found it an excellent way to scare up new material ... And a whole bunch of people are coming to the Encyclopedia after being directed to it by 'Jeeves' P.P.S. Did you see that?!? [Baren 1000] !! ------------------------------ From: Sheryl Coppenger Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 21:19:16 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Baren 1003] Re: Phillips essay ... > OK Missouri lady, and other skeptics out there :-)> (I've got a beard, > don't you know!) ... here's something for you. > > http://www.woodblock.com/forum/archives/vol03/extras/gill.jpg > http://www.woodblock.com/forum/archives/vol03/extras/gill_close.jpg Alright already! I'm convinced! :-) Thanks for putting that up. It was interesting. BTW, I hate to ask but what's a beard got to do with it? That's a new colloquialism on me. Sheryl Coppenger ------------------------------ From: Ray Esposito Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 21:04:42 -0400 Subject: [Baren 1004] Re: Printmaking Biennial Roxanne wrote: >I am a new member of this quite wonderfully informative group, and also >the Chair of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society's 15th National Biennial Exhibition. Welcome to baren, the friendiest group on the internet. (And the wordiest.) I hope to see some of your work soon. (Just look out for the jokes and remember, you can't trust these foreigners. When it gets cold so do the jokes.) BTW - I already got the prospectus and look forward to entering. >Tulip wood....etc. When I asked for Tulipwood at my local lumber yard all I got was a blank stare. (Come to think of it, they give you a blank stare even if you ask for the time of day.) Perhaps it is called whitewood or has another name on the east coast. Cheers Ray Esposito ------------------------------ From: Jack Reisland Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998 23:33:08 -0700 Subject: [Baren 1005] Re: Various recent posts ... David Bull wrote: > Jack, I would love to have an interesting and comprehensive section on > this for the Encyclopedia. No. no problem, I would be flattered to be able to add to the Encyclopedia. I will put together an article when I have enough time to do it right, but that will be a while. How do you prefer to have things submitted, in print or e-mail or? Jack Reisland ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 21:12:36 +0900 Subject: [Baren 1006] Can you trust your children ... Attention, all you artists doing limited editions! Can you trust your children? The other day Jim pointed me to a web site which was selling woodblock prints. Here is a clipping from the page (with the names blocked out ...): >The number of woodblock prints produced by XXXX was very small, and >consequently his ability in this medium is relatively unknown. The blocks >themselves have been preserved by his family, who have consented to the >release of these limited edition woodblock prints in strict accordance with >the conditions of copyright. Each edition is limited to 125 in number of which >100 are for sale, each print is individually numbered by hand. No further >editions will be produced. > >Authenticity is guaranteed by an embossed seal below the image and each >original print has a certificate of authenticity. The woodblock prints in >these editions are printed from the original blocks on an 1890s Golding foot >treadle printing press by YYYY and signed by him. Additionally, each >print is also signed by ZZZZ, daughter of XXXX. I especially like that comment 'No further editions will be produced'. Anyway at least not until it's the grandchildren's turn ... *** Jack Reisland wrote, re Encyclopedia contributions: > How do you prefer to have things submitted, in print or e-mail or? Anyway that you like ... I've got excellent OCR software here to read typed stuff, a good scanner for photos, and of course email is also very easy to handle. Carrier pigeon also accepted ... *** Sheryl wrote: > BTW, I hate to ask but what's a beard got to do with it? _You_ smile like this :-) But a man with a beard smiles like this :-)> Dave ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V3 #194 ***************************