Baren Digest                Monday, 20 May 2002        Volume 19 : Number 1835


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From: Louise Cass <lcass@primus.ca>
Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 14:20:44 -0400
Subject: [Baren 18106] Re: Ink and paper 

Hi Linda -

I'm using Graph Chem's water base ink for my woodblocks - they take a full
day or so to dry - indoors here it's quite dry as we still have heat on
I thin the ink with their water soluble vehicle (ink on the glass slab I use
lasts for about 6 prints) and print on dampened paper - could this help?
Perhaps Graph Chem makes a retarder - I know Speedball does

Re the discussion on 'selling works on time' - when I offer this for either
prints or paintings and I've sold much this way - the buyers always
give me post-dated cheques in fact I just finished cashing cheques
(for an expensive ptg) that covered 2 1/2 yrs - I shall miss the monthly
income
ans so far nothing's ever 'bounced'!

Louise Cass




>Interesting how things contrast.  I was just getting ready to write to this
>group and ask for some advice on how to slow the drying of ink.  I'm using
>Graphic Chemical's water-based relief ink and am having a problem with it
>drying too fast.  By the time I ink up the block and print it, the ink on my
>ink slab is already half dry and basically unuseable.  I know the main
>culprit is that fact that I live in a desert with almost no humidity, so I'm
>not hopeful that there is a solution, other than to use oil-based inks or
>just live with using a lot of water-based ink.  But I will entertain all
>(reasonable) suggestions.
>
>By the way, my music print is the first thing that I've tried to print since
>moving from Iowa to California and it's been interesting.  The good part is
>that the paper dries quickly and prints on dry paper dry fully in about an
>hour.  The ink drying too fast is the bad side.  I think I'll have to try
>oil-based inks if I can't figure some way to slow the drying of water-based
>inks.  I get too annoyed with rolling out more ink each time I do one print.
>
>Linda
>
>
>

http://www.LCassArt.com

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From: Jack Reisland <reislandj001@hawaii.rr.com>
Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 08:46:04 -1000
Subject: [Baren 18107] Re: Paper acidity 

David Bull wrote:


> You speculated 'acid rain' and I guess that is a growing
> problem here (from the Chinese coal burning) but even if the river water
> was slightly acidic, would that be carried over into the finished paper?
>
> Dave


Yes, I think acidic water would do it. It seems to me that if the water in
the vat was acidic, the newly formed sheets would be acidic, and as the
water evaporated out, it would leave the acid behind. It would actually
become more concentrated in the paper fibers as it dried.

Jack R.


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From: Louise Cass <lcass@primus.ca>
Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 16:48:47 -0400
Subject: [Baren 18108] Re: Mime-Version: 1.0 

Hi Linda et al once more -

I should have added that faulty &/or old materials could be the problem -
one I had a little while ago with the WS vehicule making everything so tacky
that cleaning up was ghastly - To the people who remember giving me advice
on cleaning ink off block,etc. thanks again but now it's a breeze - just a
soapy
sponge and a little water - (the defective WS Vehicule was the culprit)
Actually I'm exaggerating the drying time of my prints - it seems to differ
with various papers.
Louise C.
http://www.LCassArt.com

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From: "Linda" <LMHTWB@prodigy.net>
Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 14:52:57 -0700
Subject: [Baren 18109] Re: pricing  

If size matters, then how about the edition size?  Is there any correlation
between price the public will pay and the edition size?   (Marie, time to
drag out those stat books and do your own study!) There should be, since an
edition of 10 should sell out sooner than an edition of 100, but then again,
the public can be strange.

Linda
www.lmhornberger.com


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From: "Maria Arango" <maria@mariarango.com>
Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 15:15:13 -0700
Subject: [Baren 18110] Re: pricing 

Yes yes! The edition size is definitely something even the most avid poster
buyer can fully understand. Sorry Dave, please plug your ears now--

If some printmaker were just starting out and wondered how many prints to
make from each block...market wise (if selling direct to the public) the
magic number is 100 or less. Sharper buyers in the US will purchase those
editions with less than 50 prints. Now everyone beware, serious markety
stuff ahead: HOWEVER, unless you plan on marketing to true art collectors
only, I would at least get 50 prints out of every block. My magic number (a
ballpark, nonsensical number I have invented for my own efficiency and peace
of mind) is $10,000. That is, if I make a print that I plan on selling for
$100 ea., no framing involved, I will make an edition of 100. If I sell them
all, that would be $10,000--for about a week's work, that's not bad gross
income (spread out over n years). Currently I will make editions of 200 as a
maximum because that is the magic number that the better festivals use to
determine an allowable "limited edition." Alas, a slave of my market!
Anyhow, 200 is plenty and I get really really bored with the darned things,
then there is the storage problem.
If you do a fair number of festivals, you can sell 20-50 prints per
festival. Yes, math comes in handy. This would mean that even my best
selling prints, those that I sell almost every time I take them out, will
last me around 10 years. A case to be made for smaller editions! Or more
festivals? Naaahhh...
Expanding on those last two points, once you get exposure you might attract
wholesalers and/or galleries and/or print dealers that purchase quantities.
I have sold 10 and in one case 20 of the same print, thus cutting the
"selling life" of that print to 5 or 6 years. That's better for me
psychologically. And on the best selling prints thing, I never really know
which ones they will be. I always thought my desert garden prints would sell
quickly, but they are 1 for 2 or 1 for 3 (sell one every 2 or 3 festivals).
The wood dancers and the huge light seekers and uprooted prints sell every
single time I take them out. Road engravings sell sometimes half a dozen,
sometimes none. No way to predict but a lot of fun analyzing.

In any case, I hope this helps someone!
Maria

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Maria Arango
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
http://www.1000woodcuts.com
maria@mariarango.com
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-baren@ml.asahi-net.or.jp
> [mailto:owner-baren@ml.asahi-net.or.jp]On Behalf Of Linda
> Sent: Sunday, May 19, 2002 2:53 PM
> To: baren@ml.asahi-net.or.jp
> Subject: [Baren 18109] Re: pricing
>
>
> If size matters, then how about the edition size?  Is there any
> correlation
> between price the public will pay and the edition size?   (Marie, time to
> drag out those stat books and do your own study!) There should
> be, since an
> edition of 10 should sell out sooner than an edition of 100, but
> then again,
> the public can be strange.
>
> Linda
> www.lmhornberger.com
>
>



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From: barebonesart <barebonesart@attbi.com>
Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 16:53:14 -0700
Subject: [Baren 18111] Re: Baren Digest V19 #1834 

Congratulations Brad - Olivia is a beauty and I can tell from the photos
that you are going to be a Daddy. Daddy's are different than Dads - they are
very special and not everyone is lucky enough to have one, but those of us
who have had the pleasure know what special beings they are. There is a
saying, "Everyone can be a father, but it takes some special to be a Daddy".

Shireen - I can only reinforce Barbara's comments. At the gallery I belong
to we also rent work. We have their credit card number and if they don't
play by the rules, we use it. We  have only had trouble once, and eventually
we got the money. But what you did should have been more like lay-away, when
its paid for, you get the goods.  Yet another of life's little lessons -
yes? But, we're lucky we're printmakers - we still have some of the edition
left - I had a little painting stolen once and that really hurts!

Sharri



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From: "george jarvis" <gjarvis@k8.dion.ne.jp>
Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 15:36:58 +0900
Subject: [Baren 18112] acidity testing  

Thank you for the kind response regarding the acidity of 
handmade papers.


>One thing you might consider is the water you use to wet the papers.


These pH  test pens are designed for commercial printers to check
if the paper they are using for their 'archival' printing job is really
archival before they go to press. They are applied directly to the
dry paper.


>rayon is very susceptible to UV damage, no matter what the 
>PH range.


Yes. The brittle paper was still clearly alkaline.


>Wei T'o solutions work fine for neutralizing paper, but are
>generally intended for treatment of finished works. It seems like a real
>pain to have to treat all your papers before printing,


Any ideas about adding some kind of buffering agent to either sizing
or wetting water. (unfortunately I like to get my paper pre-sized, and  to
print dry wherever possible )


>Considering the method/materials that go into 
>handmade papers here, it's hard to see where such acidity would be 
>coming from. You speculated 'acid rain' and I guess that is a growing 
>problem here (from the Chinese coal burning) but even if the river water 
>was slightly acidic, would that be carried over into the finished paper?


>I would have expected, if anything, that paper would carry an alkali pH 
>value, given the soda 'cooking' that it undergoes to separate all the 
>fibres ...


>Whose paper was this George?


If this were an isolated case I would probably not have given it  much 
thought.  But There seem to be rather a lot.

The  following samples have tested at more acid than pH6.8
(Numbers under 7 being acid, 7 being neutral):
These names  are  from suppliers catalogs 
(If you want them in Kanji I can send them to you directly
as  they'd only look like garbage  if I put them here)
Mawata
Hakudo
Atsuyou
Kihada
Iraga
Echizen Hosho
Tosa Gekkou
Hansoushi
Shousou
Gampi Art Shi
Several dozen others seem to hover on the 6.8 line
not enough to turn the indicator bright yellow
but enough to be definately on the acid side of the line.
Since these papers are unbuffered, It might be 
possible that they were exposed to some adverse
environment before they were cut up for samples.
But here I have some samples that have beenstored 
in the same box  for years and still maintain their
light purple neutral pH response , like Katsuragi
from Toyama or Shimayama from Ibaragi.

I'm not sure how meaningful these names are
as names like ' Torinoko'  appear in many maker's 
lines of paper in colors from yellow to stark white.
and withacidity test results  from the same brilliant 
yellow of a  test on newsprint to the deep purple of 
a test on a heavily buffered museum board.

('Torinoko' simply means baby bird or chick,
presumably from the resemblance to eggshell.)


>Given the length of your experience in this craft, 


I have a feeling that from 'long' we can deduce
neither 'correct', 'skilled' nor ' wise' , only 'interested'.
And the possible presence of debatable working habits.

G.Jarvis



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End of Baren Digest V19 #1835
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