Baren Digest Tuesday, 30 September 2003 Volume 24 : Number 2391 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Myron Turner Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 08:40:13 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22940] Re: Baren Digest V24 #2387 I've never wet the honing compound myself and don't know how that would work. But Lee Valley's instructions, which come with their honing compound, suggest that you rub the leather with some kind of animal fat before rubbing the honing compound onto the leather. You'd only have to do that once, when you start up. I used some vaseline--not too much, just rub it into the leather. If you use too much, the compound won't adhere to the leather sufficiently but will sort of slide around on top of the greasy surface. As for the block of wood method, there I just press the compound block into the grooves and rub, and if the groove is too small, scrape some compound off the block and push it into the groove with your tool. If, when you are honing, using the compound, the honing compound begins to turn black, then it is doing its job--the black is in fact metal particles that have been rubbed off the tool. Myron >At 06:29 PM 28/09/2003, you wrote: > Sharpening: >There goes one of those details that may make the difference . My directions >didnt say to wet the honing compund after putting it on the leather. >Thank you Marilynn, I will try that. > >Sharpening challenged >Carol L. ------------------------------ From: "Brad Teare" Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:33:09 -0600 Subject: [Baren 22941] Embossing charset Thanks for all the embossing help! It really made a difference. I embossed all 300 prints this weekend without having a nervous breakdown. A major accomplishment. I wrote previously that my gallery "insisted" I emboss the series. Insisted was probably too strong a word. But after I finished the embossing and put the prints in their portfolio boxes I had to admit that the embossing made the divergent images look like a series. The colored borders helped as well. If any one is doing a portfolio you may want to consider embossing the original work. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it might be (thanks to the excellent ideas I gleaned from all of you). Thanks again (and thanks for the kind feedback). Brad ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 14:07:23 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22942] Re: calendar prints received....and important update - volunteer needed Hi...thank you, thank you....prints received today from Jeanne N. Chase and Gilda Macado-Zimmerling. Have not had a chance to open the packages yet but will scan prints tonight to the website. Unfortunately we have had one recent (today !) drop out from the PAGE calendar and I would like to ask for a volunteer willing to take on doing the JUNE PAGE-print. Preferably someone who is not already on the PAGE calendar. You would have till the end of October to get the 40 prins needed to me. Calendars fly out of here first week of November or earlier if done ! Here is your chance to get some wonderful prints in exchange ! Please email me off-list....thanks...Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois) ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 15:16:01 -0400 Subject: [Baren 22943] Re: calendar prints received....and important update - volunteer needed Julio I wish those were my Calendar prints but they must be the WAR AND PEACE exchange prints that you received. However the Calendar print will be in the mail next week. I am on # 15 now so a few more to go and to dry. Jeanne N. ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 14:26:30 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22944] Re: Embossing So, Brad, exactly 'how' did you do the embossing after all those zillions of suggestions? - -- Mike ------------------------------ From: "Brad Teare" Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 13:43:22 -0600 Subject: [Baren 22945] Embossing results charset=us-ascii Although I experimented with different ways to emboss, I finally decided to keep it simple and used a light table and a piece of matt board. I used a bone folder to emboss by hand. In the final analysis my press (a challenger proof press) didn't have enough pounds per inch to emboss effectively (without dampening, which I didn't want to do). ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 16:13:24 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22946] Re: Embossing "I embossed all 300 prints this weekend... portfolio boxes....colored borders.... If any one is doing a portfolio you may want to consider embossing the final work" Hi Brad, I thought you were sending in just a few prints for a gallery exhibit, but this sounds like a major project/accomplishment...please elaborate..what is it all about ? Do you always print borders around your prints ? thanks...Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois) ------------------------------ From: charles mcneely Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 15:46:56 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Baren 22947] hanga questions Hi I tried Hanga printing for the first time with Some success, thou I have a few questions. The first is how do you keep the images from transferring to the back of the print in the stack of dampen paper?? This happen after printing the first block and on some caused some smudging , my paper was lightly moist. In printing the successive blocks I also ran into a problem of the first color bleeding into the second , don't know whether I had too much paste,pigment,paste too thick or what?? Charles McNeely enon oh ------------------------------ From: "Brad Teare" Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 16:46:53 -0600 Subject: [Baren 22948] Mount Everest Hi Julio, Yes, this was the Mount Everest of printmaking for me. As an illustrator I was used to getting things done on schedule but this defied my expectations. When I started the project I really wasn't sure I could deliver. But I wanted to do the project so bad I took the leap of faith. I cut 85 blocks and printed 440 prints to create thirty portfolios of ten prints each. I needed the high number of artists proofs because of the high failure rate with a multiple block print. I hand deckled all the edges and embossed 390 of the prints. I have 3 sets of artist's proofs that I'm retaining. The rest go to the LA Art Show that starts October 9th (at the Bingham Gallery booth). Most of my wood engravings were in the black line or white line tradition and I usually had a border. Not always though. This is the first time I used a lost key technique with a color border. Brad Teare (Salt Lake City) ------------------------------ From: Mike Lyon Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 18:52:07 -0500 Subject: [Baren 22949] Re: hanga questions Dear Charles, First, congratulations on getting started! That's great! Now some questions and maybe stupid suggestions... Are you printing with transparent watercolors? Or dry pigment in water/rice-paste? Or are you using those water-based oily-ink substitutes? The color is supposed to go _into_ the paper, not stand up on the surface, so transfer really shouldn't be possible, even if you _try_. Lightly moist paper sounds right to me -- not really damp, just 'relaxed'... What kind of paper and what kind of ink/pigment? The block really ought to look matte -- never glossy prior to dropping the paper, and the paper should only be 'relaxed' and maybe 'slightly cool', not really 'damp' or 'wet'. Overall, though, it sounds like _way_ too much paste/pigment... If you want the color deeper, good practice might be to print the paper several times over the same block/color (but be sure the paper doesn't soak up too much water and become over-soft in the process)... Well, those are some first thoughts, anyway... Maybe if you could describe your process in some detail you'd get some assistance from several of the moku-hanga printers here? - -- Mike you wrote: >Hi >I tried Hanga printing for the first time with Some success, thou I have a >few questions. >The first is how do you keep the images from transferring to the back of >the print in the stack of dampen paper?? This happen after printing the >first block and on some caused >some smudging , my paper was lightly moist. In printing the successive >blocks I also ran into a problem of the first color bleeding into the >second , don't know whether I had too much paste,pigment,paste too thick >or what?? > >Charles McNeely >enon oh Mike Lyon mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com http://www.mlyon.com ------------------------------ From: Aqua4tis#aol.com Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 21:33:12 EDT Subject: [Baren 22950] Re: war and peace prints hi everyone i received my package of prints (thanks jeanne!!!!!) and they are stunning i want to thank everyone every time im in an exchange im reminded of how proud i am to be associated with you all and thanks to you too dave georga ------------------------------ From: charles mcneely Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 04:49:22 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Baren 22951] Re: hanga questions - Mike I'm using reves BFK paper and transparent watercolors with rice paste. How thick should the pigment/paste be? should i be using the paste with the watercolors? Charles McNeely ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V24 #2391 *****************************