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Message 1
From: David Harrison
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:50:54 +0000
Subject: [Baren 32921] Re: UK Woodblock supplies
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Louise, the spelling was close enough that Google spotted it! The URL is:

http://www.falkiners.com/

It also links to the rather groovy http://www.bookbinding.co.uk/ !

Mark, you might like to have a look at http://www.greatart.co.uk --
they're a general art store but have some nice papers, a few useful
printmaking doodabs, and so on. I've bought some stuff from them and
they're pretty reliable.

cheers,

David

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Message 2
From: "Robert Viana"
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:52:25 -0200
Subject: [Baren 32922] year of the.....
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Hi friends!
Some great New Years postcards coming in!
I was wondering on the "official" calling of the animal.
Half of the stuff that I read claims it is the year of the boar the other the year of the pig.
Now I know they similar if not the same, but what is historically?
Year of the Boar?
or Year of the Pig?
I would love to hear all of your opinions!
Cheers, Rob

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Message 3
From: "Barbara Carr"
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 13:55:30 -0800
Subject: [Baren 32923] Re: year of the.....
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Rob-
ALL of our opinions?!? Here's mine: I think that a boar is a wild
version of the same animal and the pig is its domesticated cousin.
When the New Year started, all those swine were probably boars.....
The prints cover both areas; some are truly wild boars and some are
cute piggies. All of this is artistic conjecture on my part, though.
Barbara C

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Message 4
From: "COATES, Carolyn \(Library\)"
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 17:02:57 -0500
Subject: [Baren 32924] Re: year of the.....
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A boar is simply a (uncastrated) male swine, so pig sounds a little more
generic and a little less sexist to some. "Pig" can be used in a
technical way to mean a young, not yet sexually mature, swine, but is
also commonly used for domesticated swine in general.

You hear similar variations every year....

--Carolyn

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Message 5
From: David Harrison
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2007 22:05:27 +0000
Subject: [Baren 32925] Re: year of the.....
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I couldn't tell you about the horoscopicity of the whole thing but
Wikipedia has, as ever, a nifty article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar

It says that the wild boar is the common oinker's ancestor.

We get to see quite a few 'round here. Unfortunately they're trussed,
hung up outside butchers' stores in the covered market and missing their
private bits! I always fancied getting a few friends to chip in to buy
one then staging an Asterix re-enactment in a field somewhere.

cheers,

David H

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Message 6
From: Wanda Robertson
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 14:45:57 -0800
Subject: [Baren 32926] Re: year of the.....
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Hmmm....I think a boar is a male swine. A sow is what the female of
the species is called.

And from what everyone is saying this is the year of the golden boar,
so a gold colored male swine (pig)?

Wanda

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Message 7
From: L Cass
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:05:35 -0500
Subject: [Baren 32927] Re: year of the.....
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Hi Rob - Chinese people(and there are many!) here in Toronto are
saying it's "The Year of The Golden Boar" (which arrives every 60 yrs) -we are
all taking artistic liberties in depicting pigs -they are related, after all!
Louise C.

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Message 8
From: "Orgren Alex C \(Alex\)"
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 01:31:22 -0500
Subject: [Baren 32928] Re: Technical Printing Advice Please
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Mike,

>You'll have easiest and best results with a paper made especially for
moku-hanga

I have a sheet each of McClain's Masa, Ise, and Edgeworthia to use for
my next round of printing tomorrow. I plan to sample some of the other
mid-priced papers over time.

>Print DRYER!!!

This will probably help with black, especially with the ink I'm using.
I've read similar comments on the relative merits of pigment
suspensions, and I'll try those soon.

>Build wide gradations in several printings, from narrower to wider.

Do you think a larger number of weaker printings might also reduce paste
accumulation in the moat? I see in the archives that some baren folks
don't soak the maru bake as long as recommended elsewhere, so starting
with a drier brush might also help.

Thanks for responding, I'm on my way to cut paper!

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Message 9
From: "Mark Mason"
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 10:28:20 -0000
Subject: [Baren 32929] Re: Pigments and UK suppliers.
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Thanks to everyone for their advice on palettes. If I'm doing a watercolour sketch in a life drawing group I attend I only use 3 colours and I can get a huge range of colours out of them. I think I'll start with pigments that match that palette to start with and see how I go. It's very interesting to hear of other personal palettes though, especially when you can view the work online.
I work in a very quiet part of the UK, and talking to other artists is such a boost.

David, I found out about the left-handed hangito in Intaglio Printmakers downloadable PDF catalogue, which is on their site. I've never had a problem with them at all. I first ordered with them about 10months ago. I enquired about their new larger, thicker ply blocks and they're made of Birch.

Louise- Yes I know Falkners (I can't quite remember how to spell it either). They are linked with Shepherds bookbinding supplies. I popped into their fantastic old shop in London when I was there last. Beautiful Japanese decorative papers and everything you'd need to produce Japanese printed books. It's where I got my supplies to bind David Bull's ebooks on woodblock printing. http://mokuhankan.com/conversations/archives/2007/02/mokuhankan_eboo.html
I've ordered a couple of things from Lawrence's but they're very expensive and have a tiny range of Japanese Woodblock Printing supplies. They do look much better for Wood Engraving for which they've supplied end blocks and gouges for decades.

Of course I can't leave out The Baren Mall it's a great international source, and Barbara Mason does a brilliant job managing it! (She helped get me a 3mm left-handed Hangito - thanks.)

I've also found that UK "Build Centres" that also deal in timber supply American Cherry at a very good rate: based on 1"x1"x12" at 30p. So 1"x6"x12" is £1.80. These are prices for unfinished timber, but some centres will finish the wood for you at an extra cost.

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Message 10
From: "Mike Lyon"
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 06:58:55 -0600
Subject: [Baren 32930] Re: Technical Printing Advice Please
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|From: Orgren Alex C (Alex)
|
| I see in the archives that some baren folks don't soak the
|maru bake as long as recommended elsewhere, so starting
|with a drier brush might also help.

Prior to printing, I lightly spritz my maru-bake hair ends, then rub with my
palm until it feels 'right' to me -- just barely 'cool' and 'soft' (like the
paper).

NEVER SOAK your brushes -- brush should never be 'wet' except if you wash it
-- then shake out all possible water and towel it, then dry hairs down until
completely dry before printing (I do sometimes use a freshly washed brush
without drying -- but I dry it with a towel in order to get all possible
water out of it before printing -- then I dampen my ready to print block
with that brush and no more water in order to further dry the brush hairs on
the block.

You're printing WAY too wet -- paste and pigment should NEVER build up in
the 'moat' at ALL -- that's what the brush is for -- to spread a very thin
layer of pigment and water evenly over surface (and moat) -- also, the
pronounced 'brush marks' in your example bokashi indicate you've used too
much paste.

Here's an experiment you can try to 'get the feel' of paste... Starting
with a CLEAN brush and block which prints some large uncut areas, dampen the
block with water, add a bit of pigment (NO PASTE), brush it up and print.
Do this on several practice sheets. You'll likely see some pronounced
goma-zuri (sesame seed printing -- large granular color 'dots'). Then add a
SMALL amount of paste and brush out print again -- this time you'll see less
goma. Continue adding paste to water and pigment and printing and you'll
see the goma disappear and 'smooth' color on the paper. Continue adding
paste (and pigment and water as needed to make a dull matte printing surface
-- no fluid or paste buildup anywhere on the block) and you'll begin to
notice that your maru-bake brush marks appear on the prints. So for
'smooth' printing, goma indicate too little paste and brush marks indicate
too much.

Mike

Mike Lyon
Kansas City, MO
http://mlyon.com

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