Baren Digest Friday, 26 September 2003 Volume 24 : Number 2386 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "kent kirkpatrick" Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 07:26:33 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22901] Embossing and Drying of Papers Hi, This is a question concerning Moku Hanga: if one is using several colors in a piece (bringing in moisture) and wants to also emboss on this piece, is the way to dry the paper (where I normally use a weight on top of the Illustration board and papers) just to use less weight than normal so the embossing is not ruined? Is this really a concern at all unless one uses considerable weight? Thanks, - -Kent Kirkpatrick ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 23:36:17 +0900 Subject: [Baren 22902] Re: Embossing and Drying of Papers 'Kento' asked: ... and wants to also emboss on this piece, is the way to dry the paper (where I normally use a weight on top of the Illustration board and papers) just to use less weight than normal so the embossing is not ruined? Is this really a concern at all unless one uses considerable weight? Hi Kent, If you are talking about the normal 'karazuri' type of embossing in Japanese prints - the type where the embossed effect is caused by the baren rubbing over carved lines - then you don't need to take any special measures when drying prints. If you were pressing them with a steam-roller or something, I guess you would have trouble, but the normal 'press between illustration boards with a book on top' type of drying doesn't hurt the embossing at all. If you are talking about 'kimedashi' - the type which involves pushing and stretching the paper out from the back to give a pronounced relief effect, then yes, you would have to be careful not to squash the things ... Dave ------------------------------ From: "Brad Teare" Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 09:20:17 -0600 Subject: [Baren 22903] emergency embossing help My gallery insists that I emboss my prints for a show ( I have to deliver the prints this Monday). I've been struggling like mad just to get the prints done. Does anyone know a simple way to emboss a thin line around a wood cut? I was going to use a linoleum block and simply cut a thin line and blind emboss it onto the print using a large amount of paper as padding. But my hands are so sore from cutting there's no way I can cut ten embossing blocks by Monday. I'll be leaving my day job and heading to the studio in eight hours. If anyone has any ideas to make my weekend easier I would be extremely grateful. Best to all. Incidentally, my gallery has a set of prints up on the internet (minus two that I have yet to scan for them): http://www.binggallery.com/teare.asp ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 08:26:47 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22904] RE: emergency embossing help Place wire or string in the desired shape and size on a flat surface; might want to glue down so it stays put. Paper...muscle...voila! I've tried the wire, works great! -string was suggested by a relief printing book on my shelf. Maria >My gallery insists that I emboss my prints for a show ( I >have to deliver the prints this Monday). I've been struggling >like mad just to get the prints done. Does anyone know a >simple way to emboss a thin line around a wood cut? I was >going to use a linoleum block and simply cut a thin line and >blind emboss it onto the print using a large amount of paper >as padding. But my hands are so sore from cutting there's no >way I can cut ten embossing blocks by Monday. I'll be leaving >my day job and heading to the studio in eight hours. If >anyone has any ideas to make my weekend easier I would be >extremely grateful. ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:37:25 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22905] Re: Transferring At 02:27 AM 9/25/2003 +0000, Barbara Patera wrote: >The easiest way that I have found to transfer a computer print-out on to >either lino or wood is to print it on acetate..... I use Tektronic film for >ink jet copiers.... then invert the acetate onto the block and rub. If it is >a fresh print it transfers beautifully.... and absolutely no fumes! Interesting technique, Barbara -- I'm speculating it would work well with certain ink-jet printers where the inks were slow drying and just sat up on top of the acetate waiting to touch that absorbent wood! Cool, quick, non-toxic. Might tend to smear on lino? Another method which I don't think has yet been discussed, but which is VERY easy and certain: The special two-ply hanshita from Baren Mall (paper #22) $8.49 for a 2' x 3' sheet. http://www.barenforum.org/mall/products/paper.php (scroll down the page to #22 -- hanshita) Draw, paint, inkjet print, laserprint, etc your image onto this paper, paste it to your block, peel the backing away, and you have your image clearly visible through the thinnest and most transparent tissue. That tissue is also easily rubbed away by damp fingers to leave only the image on the block. Appears to be very consistent in my limited tests, but I have not yet used it for a larger than postcard size multi-block print. I intend to use it to transfer the color block plans for the Indianapolis Museum of Art print I'm working on (original 1860 oban actor key block printed along with my own color blocks to recreate the original print but with some anachronisms -- my 'Thunder Mike' signature on a placard in the image, and the IMA logo prominently decorating the actor's robes -- otherwise remaining true to original color scheme)... I think it'll work like a charm and very easily, since the designs are being worked out in PhotoShop under a full-size scan of one of my proofs from the antique block. Let you know in a few months. - -- Mike Mike Lyon mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 11:47:10 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22906] Re: emergency embossing help Brad I emboss most of my drawings. They are usually on Rives lightweight paper. I cut a template out of mat board the way I want my embossing to be. Lay the template on a light table, then the print or drawing on top of the template. The light shines through and you can easily see where you are going. Then I take the smooth side of an old paint brush (small, used for oils) or a regular embossing tool that you can purchase at a craft store. Simple score the paper around the embossing. It works just fine and you do not have to wet the paper. Sometimes I will put a sheet of thin plastic over the print so the paper will not tear. Hope this works. It is fast, easy, no fuss, no muss. Jeanne N. ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 11:50:16 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22907] Re: emergency embossing help Brad Forgot to mention when I said the smooth side of a paint brush , I meant the end of the brush, the tail end, it is usually smooth. Be careful that it is not sharp as it WILL tear the print. Good luck on you exhibition. Jeanne N. ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:49:31 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22908] Re: Baren Digest V24 #2384 At 12:26 PM 9/25/2003 +0900, I wrote: >That said, the transfer works well using a sovent-laden paper and hand >pressure from spoon or baren, but since it takes longer to transfer by >rubbing you'll want some sort of insoluble vapor barrier if you are using >a volatile solvent like lacquer thinneror acetone. Not to second-guess myself too much, but I was looking over the digest and wanted to add that in place of solvent-laden paper, you can use solvent-dipped cotton (or paper towel) to rub the copy from behind in order to transfer toner bit-by-bit... Works with acetone, lacquer thinner, oil of wintergreen (yuch!), citrus oils, etc. Mike Mike Lyon mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: Charles Morgan Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 08:57:02 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22909] Re: emergency embossing help Glue string or wire onto a block and use that to blind emboss ....... Cheers ...... Charles ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:59:20 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22910] Re: Embossing and Drying of Papers Kent Kirkpatrick wrote: >This is a question concerning Moku Hanga: if one is using several colors >in a piece (bringing in moisture) and wants to also emboss on this piece, >is the way to dry the paper (where I normally use a weight on top of the >Illustration board and papers) just to use less weight than normal so the >embossing is not ruined? Is this really a concern at all unless one uses >considerable weight? Hi, Kent... I have never been able to get RID of embossing !! My experience is: once it's there, it's there forever. I think you'll find that after you dry in the normal way, your embossing (intentional or accidental) persists. It actually stretches the paper, so it can't go back I don't think. - -- Mike Mike Lyon mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 11:28:04 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22911] Re: emergency embossing help Hi Brad, wonderful images, congratulations on your exhibit, really love your landscapes. Curious as to why the gallery insists on the embossing ? I think both Maria's and Jeanne's tips will work just fine. Myself, don't like cutting those thin lines around a block, can never get them just right or smooth enough. I am thinking here you have already done the prints and now you need to add the thin embossing all around and that you only need to do one per image for the exhibit...not a whole print run ? Looks like you are using a small press in the photo in the gallery website....if you are handy with press setup this might work: Get some plexiglass and cut strips long enough for each side of your embossing and wide enough so that while on edge they will fit on your press bed (usually is just under 1"). Place your print or a smilar size paper on the press as a guide and setup some "furniture" on your press to hold the plexiglass strips up on their thin edge all around the print to form the square/rectangle needed to do the embossing. Since the bottom edge of the strips will be in contact with your press bed it should all be level. Make sure the furniture is tight to hold the plexi in place and use some paper in the center to pad your print. I think you can get plexi or other similar material (wood strips, metal, etc) of different thicknesses at any Home center and they could probably cut it for you in thin strips required by the height of your press bed. good luck and please share more with us on you technique and work....Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois) _=-- ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 11:21:28 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22912] Re: emergency embossing help At 09:20 AM 9/25/2003 -0600, Brad Teare wrote: My gallery insists that I emboss my prints for a show ( I have to deliver the prints this Monday). I've been struggling like mad just to get the prints done. Does anyone know a simple way to emboss a thin line around a wood cut? I was going to use a linoleum block and simply cut a thin line and blind emboss it onto the print using a large amount of paper as padding. http://www.binggallery.com/teare.asp Can't help with the embossing (why in the world would the gallery ask such a thing of you, I wonder? I visited Pace Editions in NYC 10 days ago and saw some beautiful prints -- many with dark marks in the paper where oil had leached out over time and some with random finger prints, oil spots, smudges, and other stuff I'd imagined was forbidden among 'professional' prints, but Pace accepts whatever the artist accepts and doesn't get involved with such 'aesthetic' decisions). I visited http://www.binggallery.com/teare.asp and must say: Wonderful, wonderful prints! Oil based? You ought to take a stab at traditional Japanese technique. I imagine you'd take to it like a duck to water. I'm going to lead a 5-day workshop at Anderson Ranch Art Center June 21-25, 2004 in Snomass, Colorado if you'd like to join me there (I seem to be stooping to shameless commercialism... ... will try to keep myself more under control). I especially enjoyed your "Afternoon Walk" !! Looks like a great show, Brad... Congratulations! - -- Mike Mike Lyon mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: ArtfulCarol#aol.com Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 14:47:01 EDT Subject: [Baren 22913] Re: emergency embossing help "Insists"! on embossing? In response to demands from a gallery: Aside from reasonable requests from galleriles and buyers here is my 2 cent thinking on handling their demands on artists for their art. Make life simple, make yourself happy, while keeping up the high standards and respecting your art and how you manage it. "They" are not supposed to tell the artist what to do; the artist presents "them" with the way he/she does it. This is risky. The artist may not advance his art career so quickly, but will feel happier, more relaxed, and professional When confronted with demands that don't feel right, be ready with an alternate plan. A "What if...." said very sweetly. I do realize that other things factor in, for instance loosing the chance for more sales while upholding principles. It's a choice. What I wrote suits my needs and makes me feel confident and that is the name of the game for me and the experimental art I do. Everyone is different. What do you think ? Carol L. Irvington, NY ------------------------------ From: Wanda Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 12:00:52 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22914] Re: Brad's work Wow! Those are really gorgeous prints, Brad! I was impressed with the first one that Dave showed us, but these are over the top! Wanda ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 12:27:55 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22915] Puzzle Results Findings from my last call: 2 more blocks received, thanks ST and JDR 6 participants have promised their blocks soon or sooner THANK YOU!!!! 1 participant had the decency and courage to quit like a decent and courageous person 2 participants are completely missing in action, I will recut 3 blocks Sunday and send them off to: - -Maria Arango, the fastest knife in Nevada - -Lezle Williams, the first volunteer not already in the project - -Liz Horton, the second volunteer who promises "something resembling lightning speed" May the force be with all of the "promisers" and all of the brave "subs" Page will probably not be updated until I get all the blocks because that stinky image map takes a chunk of time. Locust curse will probably not go out at all...I'm the forgiving type...I might make all your socks' elastic deteriorate prematurely...droopy socks to you! Maria <||><||><||><||><||><||><||><||><||><||> Maria Arango maria#mariarango.com Las Vegas Nevada USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com <||><||><||><||><||><||><||><||><||><||> ------------------------------ From: FurryPressII#aol.com Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 16:30:54 EDT Subject: [Baren 22916] Re: emergency embossing help I have embossed wire and screen such as chicken wire into soft wood as a printing matrix makes an interesting tint block. White lines against a color back ground, sort of like a ruling machine used on a wood engraving block but not as even. john center ------------------------------ From: "Robert Canaga" Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 09:42:04 -0700 Subject: [Baren 22918] Re: emergency embossing help What about using a wire or thin rope glued down to a base then reveres embossing it with a barrier paper and a bone folder. RC >My gallery insists that I emboss my prints for a show ( I have to deliver >the prints this Monday). I've been struggling like mad just to get the >prints done. Does anyone know a simple way to emboss a thin line around a >wood cut?... ------------------------------ From: ArtfulCarol#aol.com Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 19:32:53 EDT Subject: [Baren 22919] Re: emergency embossing help Hi Jeanne, Good idea for embossing! I must do that soon. Lezle Williams has a beautful embosed image for 911. The computer image doesn't do it justice. As far as sharpening , I am an admitted Sharpening Dummy. Tomorrow if I get a chance I will say that the last 3 suggestions by Ralph,, Myron, and Charles Cheers are the simplest and I will try to use that method. Charles was the only one who said to pull the tool backwards through a groove with the green honing compound. That last detail can make all the differnece. My last resort!!! Then, if that doesn't work for me I will buy new tools as you do. Take care!! :Your Kansas City Chum Carol ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V24 #2386 *****************************