[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest 1900 Volume 10 : Number 843 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Philip Smith" Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 07:12:35 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7413] Re: Printing problem Arafat wrote: >The wood doesn't accept the oil printing ink I'm using >evenly? What can I do for avoiding this? Arafat,....'never had this problem,..but it would seem to me if you sealed the wood off with shellac and probly cut down the amount of oil in your ink someway you'd be okay,...it's worth a try, Philip ------------------------------ From: "Philip Smith" Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 07:15:02 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7414] Re: More dragons ... Dave,....great collection of our flying serpent friends. Are they all Japanese? Philip ------------------------------ From: "Fell" Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 08:30:30 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7415] exchange #3 recieved my package yesterday...wow !!! im still busy at my work to really enjoy my bundle but thanks barb for all your work on the mailing of these..frank ------------------------------ From: Gayle Wohlken Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 11:41:36 -0500 Subject: [Baren 7416] Re: Baren Digest V10 #842 Well James, in post apocalyptic Burton, Ohio we got a lot of fog and it was difficult driving through it. But the party at the Slovenian Home was great! We polka'd, (yes, I got Jim up to dance, and you should have seen him in his morning coat and top hat--everyone thought Abraham Lincoln had dropped in), we waltzed, we ate ethnic foods (most of which I couldn't have because of my commitment to vegetarianism), then big-hugged at midnight everyone in the place. Driving home was peaceful, it seemed everyone was somewhere else, so that long road was ours, all ours. And thus far, no glitches, but I understand they will come here and there as we move into January. Barbara, when I sent my prints to you for Exchange #3, there was an envelope on the outside of the package, which you did not open. In it was the check to cover postage. So I will resend it to you. I'm sorry you missed it. The prints are wonderful, and I want to thank Barbara and Wanda for all their work on this. Gayle ------------------------------ From: amoss@mindspring.com (John Amoss) Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 11:49:00 -0500 (EST) Subject: [Baren 7417] Kampala show Hey Greg- I think that a National Gallery in Kampala show would be a wonderful opportunity! I for one would love to be included, although that decision will of course be left to the museum's noted curator- I hear he's a nice guy! :~) Thanks again! - -John Amoss ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 08:51:15 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7418] Watman paper. >A few years back I went to a garage sale and bought 100 sheets of Watmans >350 GSM watercolour paper for $5, which has to be the bargain of the last >century. > Anyway this paper was rapped in brown paper, there was a receipt in the >packet dated 1961 so the paper had been siting in the garage for 37 years. Holly smokes John. Do you know what you have got there.? If this is the original Watmans which was made with cotton and linen lintels then it is worth a lot of money. I don't know if any of you know the name Zoltan Szabo. You may know him from the 9 or 10 books he has published on watercolours. I know that he purchase some to the original Watman for I think it was $50.00 a sheet. That was at least 15 maybe 20 years ago. If you can find a buyer John you could buy enough Hosho paper to last a life time..... E-Bay may be the way to market it. I could check with Zoltan to see if he is in the market..... We haven't had our New Years chat yet so could bring up the subject. You would have to make sure it is the original stuff. Graham ------------------------------ From: B Mason Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 08:55:58 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7419] Re: Printing problem Arafat, What kind of wood are you using? I am pretty new at this, but maybe if you sanded the wood lightly and then sealed it with 1/2 varnish and 1/2 turpentine mixture rubbed on with a rag it would help. allow to dry overnight and try again. I am sure you will get lots of other suggestions. Barbara ------------------------------ From: Maria Arango Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 10:39:10 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7420] Re: Printing problem Arafat, are you sealing your block in any way? What type of wood? If you are discovering the non-acceptance before printing by visual inspection, then your problem may be in the type of wood or maybe on uneven sealing of the wood. In either case, you may try cleaning the block with a mild solvent and/or sanding the block with 400/600 grit to eliminate any surface "gook." If the ink is already printed and looks blotchy, the problem may be in the process of transferring the ink to the paper. Printing oil inks by hand sometimes results in uneven transfer of oil inks. If you print with a press, you can re-run your paper with newsprint on the printed side to remove excess ink in some places. Doing this by hand is extremely time-consuming, though. I hope this helps. It is difficult to give suggestions without more detail. Maria ------------------------------ From: dimitris grammatikopulos Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 11:52:37 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Baren 7421] Re: Printing problem Dear Arafat, first of all,it is iportant to know what kind of wood and ink you are using.Second , did you try and clean up your woodplate using any thinner?Some of them being of low quality , they contain oil which settles into the wood unevenly , creating spots when inking.I'd use some newspaper and medium pressure for 10-15 minutes and then leave the plate somewhere to dry (lots of air and quiet warm place).I don't think it's wise to try and dilute the oil(?) otherwise.Let me know about the results,I may think of something else. regards, Dimitris ------------------------------ From: agatha Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 12:50:49 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7422] Re: Baren Digest V10 #842 in my experience, the lenox paper shrinks and expands a bit too much to get very good registration in multiple plate relief prints. it buckles quite a bit, too. it's great for one color relief as long as you don't soak it too long, and nice for etching and litho as well. this is the paper that the prof i worked for had his beginning printmaking students use in the intro classes, and he had good judgement about materials in general. ------------------------------ From: Aqua4tis@aol.com Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 16:12:56 EST Subject: [Baren 7423] Re: More dragons ... > http://w.com/temporary/dragons_etc/ dave these cards are wonderful!!! are they all hand made hanga style? really beautiful georga ------------------------------ From: James G Mundie Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 16:20:41 -0500 Subject: [Baren 7424] inking problem Arafat wrote: > The wood doesn't accept the oil printing ink I'm using > evenly? What can I do for avoiding this? I recommend that you oil the block itself before printing. Take some linseed oil, or whatever you have handy for modifying your ink, and rub it into the block well. This will have the effect of moisturizing the wood and help it to accept the ink more readily. Otherwise, the problem may be with the ink itself, or your method of application. An ink that is not thoroughly mixed or unevenly applied to the brayer will be "spotty" on the block. Or, perhaps your brayer's circumference is too small for the size of the block. The larger the circumference, the greater the area of coverage. Each complete revolution of the brayer deposits less ink on the block, but you can manipulate this by recharging the brayer and rolling from the opposite direction if the span of needed coverage is too great. I hope one or more of my suggestions will be helpful to you. *** A very happy and productive new year to all. James Mundie, Philadelphia USA http://www.fleisher.org ------------------------------ From: "John Ryrie" Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 09:04:06 +1100 Subject: [Baren 7425] Re: Printing problem It could be that you cleaned the block with turpentine and haven't given it time to dry. More likely there is moisture in the block, The wood may still be to green and needs more time to dry out. I know of one person who uses his microwave oven to do this, but I would advise you to try it on a scrap of wood first before using your already carved block. You could try rubbing a small amount of linseed oil into the block or coating it in a thin layer of shellac. Have you tried other brands of ink? john ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2000 08:37:32 +0900 Subject: [Baren 7426] Re: More dragons ... Philip wrote: > Dave,....great collection of our flying serpent friends. Are they all > Japanese? Philip Yes ... these are all from local friends, including one from a [Baren] member! Which one? *** > these cards are wonderful!!! are they all hand made hanga style? Card '05' is a wood engraving, '06' is printed with some kind of oil pigment, and '14' is made from little pieces of torn coloured paper. The rest are your basic woodblock print. Might be more coming in today ... not sure. If there are, I'll let you know. I get a stack of cards like this every year ... must be hundreds of them here in drawers now ... You can buy specially made folios and albums at the stationery store for storing them. It's quite a hobby for a lot of people, making contact with other amateur printmakers (like the Ban-ban people) and exchanging the cards each new year. My print run was 320 copies this year, but it looks like I'm going to have to get the blocks out again and run off some more, as I don't have enough left to reply if more than another couple dozen or so come in today ... Dave ------------------------------ From: "John Ryrie" Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 11:09:28 +1100 Subject: [Baren 7427] Re: Watman paper. Graham this is interesting I have been tolled that it is the old type and is much better than the stuff they make today. I have only 25 large sheets left 100X68 CM and some smaller ones 58X79 and lots of odd sized off cuts. The water mark on the big sheet says England J WATMAN 1958 and on the smaller one J WATMAN 1961. I can send you a sample. to show Zoltan if you like John ------------------------------ From: szvetecz Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 18:26:51 -0600 Subject: [Baren 7428] Printing problem Re: regarding the printing problem, I'll add my 2 cents worth. (Hell, David did say that we newcomers to the list had to contribute.) As Maria noted, it's not too unusual to have to work with the block to get consistently good impressions using oil based ink, especially via hand printing. Making sure the block is inked quite well is important; as one of the "bareners" suggested, keeping the brayer well charged with ink, and then rolling it in different directions over the block is a useful technique. Also manipulating the viscosity (kind of a technical term for the "goopiness") of the ink is useful, but it can be frustrating. The "stiffer" the ink (harder to roll out, more like the way the ink is straight from the can), the more control you have with regard to inking precise detail work without the the ink slopping over into the cut out areas. But it can be harder to get good hand printed impressions with a stiffer ink. A "looser" ink--one to which you've added modifiers which makes the ink flow more easily, for example, oil--is easier to hand print but lends itself to less control on precise work. My suggestion would be to lightly oil the block (as someone else had suggested). I would then try printing with slightly looser ink. Also, it is pretty normal to have to print a couple of "proofs" before you get an impression that is really as you like it. Hope this helps; I apologize if I repreated information that you already knew. Margaret M. Szvetecz ------------------------------ From: Chloe T LeMay Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 22:37:34 -0500 Subject: [Baren 7429] Re: Printing problem I agree with Margaret about the ink. If you loosen the ink, try a harder breyer. Breyers come in different hardness from very soft to very hard. The harder the breyer, the less it presses into the recesses of the block. I used to make viscosity mono-prints that were a mixture of intaglio, etching and several different layers in the plate for a total variance in depth of almost 1/8". I could print several colors at once by manipulating the viscosity of the ink and using four different rollers of various hardness. It works like a charm. Curtis ------------------------------ From: Maria Arango Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 19:55:37 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7430] Re: Kampala show Aye, aye!!! (We're not supposed to say "me too" on the list :-) With all the hoopla going around, hardly anyone has mentioned Gregory's superb idea of a Baren exhibit in Kampala. I, for two (since John A. has already replied), would be honored. Also working on showing Exchange #4 in Vegas, but in the inquiry stages only right now. Health to all, Maria ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 20:30:59 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7431] Re: Watman paper. > this is interesting I have been tolled that it is the old type and is >much better than the stuff they make today. John I am sure that that is the real stuff. Tough as all get out. You could scrub it and it withstood the punishment. Let me talk to Zoltan first. The weight may be a factor. He uses only 300lb wt and this is what was priced at $50.00 a sheet. Yours is 140lb When I was in Art School I remember paying 50=A2 a sheet..... thats when the horse and buggy was big. At any rate I will let you know. I am not sure when I will reach him. He is all ways on the move. Travels the world doing lectures and workshops. It would be handy to know how many of each of the two sizes you have. Regards, Happy New Year Graham ------------------------------ From: "John Ryrie" Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 19:32:04 +0900 Subject: [none] Graham I have 25 of the big size and 6 of the smaller one I mentioned + off cuts. The off cuts are still a good size 7 sheets 51x34 cm and about twenty 26x100 cm + a lot of odd sized bits. It is very strong paper as you say. John From: Maria Arango > Aye, aye!!! (We're not supposed to say "me too" on the list :-) > With all the hoopla going around, hardly anyone has mentioned Gregory's > superb idea of a Baren exhibit in Kampala. I, for two (since John A. has > already replied), would be honored. Me too John (well, it's a quiet list today with all the hangovers.) ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V10 #843 ****************************