Baren Digest               Sunday, 25 March 2001       Volume 14 : Number 1368


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From: Cucamongie@aol.com
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 08:41:30 EST
Subject: [Baren 14022] white ink, black paper 

Hi Barbara, I'm not sure which inks you're using.  When I was making lino 
cuts and using cheapo shiva waterbased ink (which is quite stiff, though 
chalky, but at the time I didn't mind the chalkiness), I printed a bunch of 
white ink on black paper, where the white area was really most of the image, 
meaning the cutting was making the black lines, as you described. I used 
Canson Mi-Tientes (excuse the probably wrong spelling, and I'm not sure if 
you already tried this anyway), and this worked well.  I'm not sure if it 
would work for you but it's pretty cheap paper so maybe it's worth a shot.  I 
think I also tried Arches Cover.  There was another type of black paper that 
came in a 9x12" pad that worked really well, but I can't remember the name.  
It was a very smooth paper, not too thick.  Oh yeah, and these prints were 
quite small, from 4x6" up to about 8" x 10" at the biggest.  I didn't even 
have a baren at that point, I was just rubbing as hard as I could with a 3" 
rectangular chunk of plexi!
good luck
Sarah

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From: David Bull <davebull@woodblock.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 23:22:25 +0900
Subject: [Baren 14023] Exchange #8 now on line ... 

The Exchange #8 section of the website is now up and running. Get to it
from the front page at:

http://barenforum.org

... and follow the link to Exchange Gallery ...

(Thanks to Dan Dew for the scanning, and to Ray Hudson for the
collation!)

Dave


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From: ArtfulCarol@aol.com
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 09:40:56 EST
Subject: [Baren 14024] Re: help 

About the paper questions:
I love unryu paper.  For certain subjects the little threads of white going 
through it give it an extra special textural look. You can print on both 
sides.
Barbara, did you try the Canson papercraft paper?  It is acid free, fade 
resistant. I like the idea of  white line printing in white on colored paper.
To those who answered my questions about Methyl cellulose  THANK YOU.  Ask a 
question and get knowlegeable  responses from all over the world!  Baren is 
amazing.
Carol Lyons     Irvington,NY  (I hope I dont have anything more to say 
because that is my quota for the day)

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From: B E Mason <bemason@concentric.net>
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 06:44:05 -0800
Subject: [Baren 14025] new roller 

Hey everyone,
Here is a roller made out of a sewer pipe....Daniel Kelly, an 
artist in Japan who does large woodcuts, made it when he couldn't 
figure our how to print really large woodcuts. I understand he 
also used traditional print methods on top of the woodblock 
print. I thought this would give encouragement to those of you 
without a press who want one. You get a sewer pipe, put some ends 
and a handle on, get all your friends over and viola...great 
prints are made. 

http://www.barenforum.org/temporary/kelly.jpg 

... so have a look and consider all possibilities!!!

Barbara


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From: Sunnffunn@aol.com
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 03:01:23 EST
Subject: [Baren 14026] Re: handmade flax papers 

This may be my second post today and  oopps  but i will be gone tomorrow.  I 
joined this site to learn about woodcuts because i was carving and well into 
the arts. And I  had done a piece I thought might be good as a woodcut, so  
learn about it.  What a wondeful place to learn. I have found that the 
knowledge here is enormous and that indeed it is catchy.  I want to do wood 
cutting because it is so beautiful and so many of you have such wonderful 
stuff.  You are an inspiration.  This is a thank you to each of you for your 
talent and your caring and your support and all the sharing.
How wonderful that it is contageous.
Handmade papers are a wonderous thing.
An update on the registration system problem.  I am working hard on it and 
have found that a big part of my problem was me.  I was not taught well to 
drop the paper right on the block.  Classes with a group of students are hard 
to learn it all in.  My system is improving with all the wonderful 
suggestions and i dropped 8 straight today that were wonderful, even tho it 
is not a reduction print I am curently doing.  I was registering and 
practicing with each one  so that is terrific.
Marilynn

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From: "janet" <janet@tapawingostudio.on.ca>
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 10:57:25 -0500
Subject: [Baren 14027] Re: help charset="iso-8859-1" 

Barbara wrote:
> I am trying to print a white print on black paper and it is not
> coming out as I had envisioned it...Anyone have a favorite black
> paper? 

Hi Barb!

Have you tried Black Stonehenge (Rising Papers)?  I have never tried your
white on black method but this paper is reasonably priced.  It does not
appear to have the sizing that Arches Cover has (I've tried to handcolour
some prints and the watercolours mottle quickly).  Let me know if you try it
and it works for you.  I must ask you how opaque is the white ink you are
using - doesn't some "grayness" show through? Good Luck!

Janet Stahle-Fraser


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From: "Garth Hammond" <Garthart@earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 09:40:33 -0700
Subject: [Baren 14028] Re: handmade flax papers charset="iso-8859-1" 

RE: "An update on the registration system problem.  I am working hard on it
and have found that a big part of my problem was me.  I was not taught well
to drop the paper right on the block.  Classes with a group of students are
hard to learn it all in.  My system is improving with all the wonderful
suggestions and i dropped 8 straight today that were wonderful, even tho it
is not a reduction print I am curently doing.  I was registering and
practicing with each one  so that is terrific."
Marilynn

YES!  It is one of the most frustrating parts of learning anything that I
have to learn bits at a time.  Somehow I think that I should know everything
now.  OH WELL the joke is on me.  Congratulations on your work well done.

Garth



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From: "Philip Smith" <SmithArt@Pacifier.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 09:28:16 -0800
Subject: [Baren 14029] Re: new roller charset="iso-8859-1" 

> http://www.barenforum.org/temporary/kelly.jpg

Barbara...that's either a metal sewer pipe or a plastic one filled with
sand, don't you think?
IHIDHAMTSBIMQFTD
Philip
Hammond,OR
USA



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From: B E Mason <bemason@concentric.net>
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 15:05:21 -0800
Subject: [Baren 14030] More about Daniel Kelly 

Here is a little more information to go with the roller picture, 
just to get all the facts straight. Guess I should have asked 
before I talked..anyway I am sure you all enjoyed seeing that 
great big roller!

Barbara

***

Daniel Kelly writes:
Could you post this response for me:

Thank you Barbara, I'm happy to show the world this simple 
approach. But I wouldn't say I couldn't figure out how to make 
large woodblock prints. Using the baren I've already made what 
must be the largest woodblock prints ever made in Japan; 5' x 6 ' 
and 6' X 7'[205cm X 170cm]. I've yet to hear of one larger. The 
baren is a press of limitless dimensions. It is in effect the
worlds largest press and yet it fits in a shoe box. My sewer pipe 
simply relieves some of the burden on on the arms when there are 
large simple areas to cover, like any mechanical press. I've used 
it in conjunction with the baren. As you can see in the photo, 
there is no need for handles, press bed, blankets, etc. The 
primary concept here is that there is no need for a great
deal of pressure in waterbased woodblock printing.
I first used the sewer pipe several years ago here in Kyoto. Its 
well suited for all forms of Japanese woodblock including 
bokashi. Its simple a matter of inking, viscosity, sizing and the 
dampness of paper. This may not be as true for all forms of oil 
based inks depending on the dampness factor.

Since painting is my primary medium I look for an immediate and 
original feel in each print. Many of my prints have been simply 
woodblock. When I use multimedia in my prints its for the 
qualities inherent in each media. For example, with Japanese 
woodblock techniques I prefer the waterbased colors
in the paper rather than on the paper. Woodblock can also be 
static. To overcome this tendency I employ 'bokashi' when inking. 
If I add Lithography on top its to capture my fluid, original 
hand marking. I would say woodblock IS the traditional printing 
technique, as relief print is the earliest form of printing.

Press on,
Daniel



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From: Claude Villeneuve <klaud@sympatico.ca>
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 18:20:45 -0500
Subject: [Baren 14031] Re: help 

Barbara:

Have you tried BFK Rives' black paper? I have printed a linocut on black
BFK using OPAQUE WHITE Graphic Chemical etching ink with a tiny bit of
linseed oil, no Setswell, or anything else. I sprayed the paper with
water so it becomes damp and accepts the ink better and passed it
through my etching press and it worked well. The paper absorbed just
enough of the ink. Just one thing: the black BFK bleeds when wet so be
careful if you use an etching press with blankets, put a few sheets of
newsprints or a thick cardboard the size of the paper not to stain
anything.

Good luck

Claude Aimée


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From: FOO KWEE HORNG <khfoo@moe.edu.sg>
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 12:26:07 +0800 (WST)
Subject: [Baren 14032] white ink on black paper 

Dear Bea
I have tried Canson charcoal black paper with white
water-based ink (US; forgot the brand) and it turned out rather
well. However, the white was greyish in tone. Perhaps
over-printing the same image 2 or 3 times might just get an
opaque white! Maybe, oil-based white ink might be sharper but I
have yet to try. In the Volume 9 Number 5 sep/Oct 1999 issue of
the Asian Art News, artist Dinh Luc of Vietnam was featured. His
prints were mainly white ink on black paper and they look very
textural. I'll xerox the article for you and send it to you
together with my exchange 9 prints and a white on black paper
print of mine.

Kwee Horng;
Singapore



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From: baren_member@barenforum.org
Date: 25 Mar 2001 06:02:08 -0000
Subject: [Baren 14033] RE: help (black paper) 

Message posted by: Margaret M. Szvetecz 

Claude posted his comments about Rives BFK black, and I 
would like to second them.  It is a wonderful paper. I've 
used it for litho and etching, although I haven't used it 
for woodblock.  It's thicker than the hanga papers and also 
some of the thinner western-style papers used for woodblock, 
i.e. Rives BFK Black is 250 grams/m(squared)--the 
weight of a typical intaglio or litho paper--as opposed to 
the thinner paper people prefer for hanga--60-120 
grams/m(squared). I think Rives BFK Black would work well 
for relief prints using oil-based inks (or water-based inks 
similar in viscosity to oil-based inks) printed with a press 
or with lots of hand pressure and a baren.  I don't know how 
it would work for hanga-style printing.

Margaret M. Szvetecz
szvetecz@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu



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From: B E Mason <bemason@concentric.net>
Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 22:56:43 -0800
Subject: [none]



Kwee,
We saw an exhibit of Dinh Luc'c work at the southern graphics 
council meeting in Texas earlier this month. Very colorful work 
printed on hand made paper from small villages. some of the paper 
was very thin and light weight. We were all impressed with his 
work, it was a wonderful exhibit. He also gave a talk, but I 
missed it because there were so many things to see and all were 
at the same times. I don't remember any printed on black paper.
Thanks for the information.

I wondered if others who printed on black had sealed the paper 
first. It seems the ink soaks in and is not totally white. I am 
going to try to seal the paper with transparent base and then 
overprint with white after a day for the first coat to dry. I 
will post the results.
Barbara


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From: B E Mason <bemason@concentric.net>
Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 16:13:10 +0900
Subject: [Baren 14035] Dinh Luc 

Kwee,
We saw an exhibit of Dinh Luc'c work at the southern graphics 
council meeting in Texas earlier this month. Very colorful work 
printed on hand made paper from small villages. some of the paper 
was very thin and light weight. We were all impressed with his 
work, it was a wonderful exhibit. He also gave a talk, but I 
missed it because there were so many things to see and all were 
at the same times. I don't remember any printed on black paper.
Thanks for the information.

I wondered if others who printed on black had sealed the paper 
first. It seems the ink soaks in and is not totally white. I am 
going to try to seal the paper with transparent base and then 
overprint with white after a day for the first coat to dry. I 
will post the results.
Barbara


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End of Baren Digest v14 #1368
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