Today's postings
- [Baren 29371] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V33 #3277 (Dec 2, 2005) (Marissa)
- [Baren 29372] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V33 #3277 (Dec 2, 2005) (Mike Lyon)
- [Baren 29373] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V33 #3277 (Dec 2, 2005) ("robert")
- [Baren 29374] Re: Baren Digest (old) V33 #3277 ("Marilynn Smith")
- [Baren 29375] Exchange #27 coordinator (Mike Lyon)
- [Baren 29376] A Newbie's Lament (Bretsch Katie)
- [Baren 29377] Exchange 27 ("Jean Womack")
- [Baren 29378] Re: A Newbie's Lament (Wanda Robertson)
- [Baren 29379] Re: A Newbie's Lament (Julio.Rodriguez # walgreens.com)
- [Baren 29380] Re: brushes and things...... (Julio.Rodriguez # walgreens.com)
- [Baren 29381] Re: A Newbie's Lament (ArtfulCarol # aol.com)
- [Baren 29382] yeah Baby! Site has been made official!! ("robert")
- [Baren 29383] Re: A Newbie's Lament (Marissa Verma)
Message 1
From: Marissa
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 09:31:41 -0500
Subject: [Baren 29371] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V33 #3277 (Dec 2, 2005)
Send Message: To this poster
Thanks everybody for the wonderful welcome. Before everything was
seeming so moku hanga technique focused that I was wondering if this
is the right place for me. What a great group of people. I will
respond to various comments in order here.
Wilson, I highly recommend you try wood. A good wood to try is shina
plywood. Thanks for the feedback. I am always interested to see what
pieces people are drawn to the most.
Barbara, I have a respect for water based people and their ability to
deal with it! But I generally like the look of oil better.
Ellen, thank you. I have been doing this for about six months now.
It started for real when I took a print workshop at Mass Art during
June and I have been hooked ever since. Just before that I had
received a Moku Hanga woodblock print gift set from McClain's. The
woodblock carving took, but the traditional style did not. It still
is one of the best, most thoughtful gifts I have ever received.
Mike, thank you for the feedback. Your work shows that you have a lot
more patience than I do. I got a Moku Hanga gift set from McClain's
awhile back and I ended up frustrated and with brush hair in my ink.
Plus, since I prefer to work fairly large wouldn't the ink dry before
I got to or finished printing the image? When I read that the brushes
are supposed to be hit against a piece of sharkskin for the better
part of a day I was filled with horror! Even inking up my large
blocks with a brayer, the largest I have is only 3" (with a 6" coming
in the mail) and my blocks are often 22" x 28", is already not one of
my favorite tasks. How do the brushes compare to brayers and how do
you keep the hairs from falling out into the ink?
I will look up those two artists, I love getting links to interesting
artists. I am at a stage where I am still looking a lot and taking
everything in.
Diane, I hope you do try woodblock carving sometime soon.
Carol, thank you! I have been working pretty hard on them these last
few months.
seeming so moku hanga technique focused that I was wondering if this
is the right place for me. What a great group of people. I will
respond to various comments in order here.
Wilson, I highly recommend you try wood. A good wood to try is shina
plywood. Thanks for the feedback. I am always interested to see what
pieces people are drawn to the most.
Barbara, I have a respect for water based people and their ability to
deal with it! But I generally like the look of oil better.
Ellen, thank you. I have been doing this for about six months now.
It started for real when I took a print workshop at Mass Art during
June and I have been hooked ever since. Just before that I had
received a Moku Hanga woodblock print gift set from McClain's. The
woodblock carving took, but the traditional style did not. It still
is one of the best, most thoughtful gifts I have ever received.
Mike, thank you for the feedback. Your work shows that you have a lot
more patience than I do. I got a Moku Hanga gift set from McClain's
awhile back and I ended up frustrated and with brush hair in my ink.
Plus, since I prefer to work fairly large wouldn't the ink dry before
I got to or finished printing the image? When I read that the brushes
are supposed to be hit against a piece of sharkskin for the better
part of a day I was filled with horror! Even inking up my large
blocks with a brayer, the largest I have is only 3" (with a 6" coming
in the mail) and my blocks are often 22" x 28", is already not one of
my favorite tasks. How do the brushes compare to brayers and how do
you keep the hairs from falling out into the ink?
I will look up those two artists, I love getting links to interesting
artists. I am at a stage where I am still looking a lot and taking
everything in.
Diane, I hope you do try woodblock carving sometime soon.
Carol, thank you! I have been working pretty hard on them these last
few months.
Message 2
From: Mike Lyon
Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:51:48 -0600
Subject: [Baren 29372] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V33 #3277 (Dec 2, 2005)
Send Message: To this poster
Marissa wrote:
>Mike, thank you for the feedback. Your work shows that you have a
>lot more patience than I do.
Naw... I'm actually very IMpatient and always hurrying, hurrying,
hurrying -- I have the almost constant feeling that my life is too
short and I have SO much I'd like to do and so little time
left... Probably a stage of life thing. As a painting student at
KCAI in the mid-70s I felt I was 'learning' patience, as the whole
process seemed SO tedious... I spent a couple of years painting
there under Wilbur Niewald who taught 'visual' (plein air) painting
with a direct and opaque oil technique (no glazes or the like, just
laying on opaque color richer over leaner) and trying to make the
canvas as much like the vision as possible (we were painting only
from life -- nude, still life, landscape). I think that in those
years I first began to acquire a sort of 'honesty' in that I began to
try hard to avoid preciously holding onto those parts I thought were
'good' and instead to try to respond to those changes I 'felt'
without respect to what I'd painted before. That started me
concentrating on perception and in retrospect seems to have naturally
led to my more recent work.
David Bull (the founder of Baren) once said something like, "If you
enjoy doing something, isn't it better if it takes longer?" I try to
remind myself of that whenever I am tempted to cut corners. Anyway,
I have been trying very hard to make the best stuff I am able --
because of my feeling that time is so short, I've been trying to make
good choices about 'what' to do, but at the same time trying not to
sacrifice 'quality' in the interest of time... So in woodcut, if 30
blocks seems a better expression than 15, I cut 30. Something like
that... I'm experimental in approach, but I do edition in the
academic sense (clean and identical prints in an edition) -- in the
interest of time and economy, my edition sizes do seem to be getting
smaller and smaller though. I plan only tiny editions of 3 to 5 for
my largest work next year.
>I got a Moku Hanga gift set from McClain's awhile back and I ended
>up frustrated and with brush hair in my ink.
Some 'economy' brushes seem to shed and shed until the hair is all
gone. That's VERY frustrating! Baren Mall offers two types of
maru-bake -- the 'sosaku' brushes are cheaper and they shed a LOT at
first but eventually become useful. The more expensive
'professional' brushes on BarenMall are the best I've used -- similar
to McClain's best brushes which MUST be prepared by singeing and
abrasion (sharkskin or belt sander or the like, as they arrive with
the hairs cut off square on the ends and won't print well like that),
but Baren's are slightly less expensive and arrive ready to use (for
my purposes, anyway) with nice tapered pointy hairs. They seem to
shed very little if at all and I recommend you try one of those if
you ever decide to print with water-borne pigments again. Brushes
actually are almost like a dream come true when compared to brayers
-- VERY fast and VERY easy once you become accustomed. I've printed
extensively both ways and have come to much prefer watercolor and
brushes to ink and brayers, but that's just my own experience --
there's no 'right' way, of course! Because the hairs are attached to
the brush in 'tufts' it's better to snip off any which start to stick
out with a scissors than to pull them out -- that keeps the tuft
'fat' where it's attached -- if you pull out the loose hairs, the
whole tuft becomes looser and then more and more hairs from that tuft
will tend to slide out, too.
>Plus, since I prefer to work fairly large wouldn't the ink dry
>before I got to or finished printing the image?
Drying on the block really hasn't been a problem at all for me in 20
x 30 inch prints so far. I'm about to begin printing 3x6 feet
(couple more weeks) and plan to continue to use pigment, paste, brush
as usual -- I'll let you know whether drying becomes a problem, but
obviously I don't believe it's going to be -- paste is not only a
vehicle for the pigment, it's also a very effective retardant.
>When I read that the brushes are supposed to be hit against a piece
>of sharkskin for the better part of a day I was filled with
>horror! Even inking up my large blocks with a brayer, the largest I
>have is only 3" (with a 6" coming in the mail) and my blocks are
>often 22" x 28", is already not one of my favorite tasks. How do
>the brushes compare to brayers and how do you keep the hairs from
>falling out into the ink?
Me too (sharkskin)! I've tried that and I don't enjoy it at
all! The 'pros' do seem still to regularly treat their brushes that
way (by running them for hours across stretched sharkskin) -- the
idea is to both taper the hair ends and more importantly to split the
ends which allows smoother brush-up (kinda like those hardware store
brushes with synthetic bristles which are split and resplit at the
ends -- the more hairs, the smoother the paint goes on). I've made a
ton of 'student' brushes from horsehair shoe brushes (I look for
cheap brushes with the most dense hairs -- thin/few hairs are less
suitable) and then 'prepare them' by trimming to shape with scissors,
then singing the ends (SMELLY!) with a propane torch, then sanding
them for a few minutes on a belt or disk sander. That seems to
produce a decent printing brush very quickly! My experience is that
the 'professional' brushes from BarenMall
http://barenforum.org/mall/products/maru_bake.php are good to go when
they arrive -- no split ends, but nicely tapered and print very well
right out of the box.
Having printed a LOT with watercolor and brushes as well as with ink
and rollers, I've believe that brushes are faster and easier than
brayers, although the techniques are so different that comparison is
kinda fuzzy :). Hairs don't fall out of good quality (and well
maintained) brushes and a large brush in a practiced hand prepares a
huge area VERY quickly -- much faster and easier than with a roller, IMO.
-- Mike
Mike Lyon
Kansas City, Missouri
http://mlyon.com
>Mike, thank you for the feedback. Your work shows that you have a
>lot more patience than I do.
Naw... I'm actually very IMpatient and always hurrying, hurrying,
hurrying -- I have the almost constant feeling that my life is too
short and I have SO much I'd like to do and so little time
left... Probably a stage of life thing. As a painting student at
KCAI in the mid-70s I felt I was 'learning' patience, as the whole
process seemed SO tedious... I spent a couple of years painting
there under Wilbur Niewald who taught 'visual' (plein air) painting
with a direct and opaque oil technique (no glazes or the like, just
laying on opaque color richer over leaner) and trying to make the
canvas as much like the vision as possible (we were painting only
from life -- nude, still life, landscape). I think that in those
years I first began to acquire a sort of 'honesty' in that I began to
try hard to avoid preciously holding onto those parts I thought were
'good' and instead to try to respond to those changes I 'felt'
without respect to what I'd painted before. That started me
concentrating on perception and in retrospect seems to have naturally
led to my more recent work.
David Bull (the founder of Baren) once said something like, "If you
enjoy doing something, isn't it better if it takes longer?" I try to
remind myself of that whenever I am tempted to cut corners. Anyway,
I have been trying very hard to make the best stuff I am able --
because of my feeling that time is so short, I've been trying to make
good choices about 'what' to do, but at the same time trying not to
sacrifice 'quality' in the interest of time... So in woodcut, if 30
blocks seems a better expression than 15, I cut 30. Something like
that... I'm experimental in approach, but I do edition in the
academic sense (clean and identical prints in an edition) -- in the
interest of time and economy, my edition sizes do seem to be getting
smaller and smaller though. I plan only tiny editions of 3 to 5 for
my largest work next year.
>I got a Moku Hanga gift set from McClain's awhile back and I ended
>up frustrated and with brush hair in my ink.
Some 'economy' brushes seem to shed and shed until the hair is all
gone. That's VERY frustrating! Baren Mall offers two types of
maru-bake -- the 'sosaku' brushes are cheaper and they shed a LOT at
first but eventually become useful. The more expensive
'professional' brushes on BarenMall are the best I've used -- similar
to McClain's best brushes which MUST be prepared by singeing and
abrasion (sharkskin or belt sander or the like, as they arrive with
the hairs cut off square on the ends and won't print well like that),
but Baren's are slightly less expensive and arrive ready to use (for
my purposes, anyway) with nice tapered pointy hairs. They seem to
shed very little if at all and I recommend you try one of those if
you ever decide to print with water-borne pigments again. Brushes
actually are almost like a dream come true when compared to brayers
-- VERY fast and VERY easy once you become accustomed. I've printed
extensively both ways and have come to much prefer watercolor and
brushes to ink and brayers, but that's just my own experience --
there's no 'right' way, of course! Because the hairs are attached to
the brush in 'tufts' it's better to snip off any which start to stick
out with a scissors than to pull them out -- that keeps the tuft
'fat' where it's attached -- if you pull out the loose hairs, the
whole tuft becomes looser and then more and more hairs from that tuft
will tend to slide out, too.
>Plus, since I prefer to work fairly large wouldn't the ink dry
>before I got to or finished printing the image?
Drying on the block really hasn't been a problem at all for me in 20
x 30 inch prints so far. I'm about to begin printing 3x6 feet
(couple more weeks) and plan to continue to use pigment, paste, brush
as usual -- I'll let you know whether drying becomes a problem, but
obviously I don't believe it's going to be -- paste is not only a
vehicle for the pigment, it's also a very effective retardant.
>When I read that the brushes are supposed to be hit against a piece
>of sharkskin for the better part of a day I was filled with
>horror! Even inking up my large blocks with a brayer, the largest I
>have is only 3" (with a 6" coming in the mail) and my blocks are
>often 22" x 28", is already not one of my favorite tasks. How do
>the brushes compare to brayers and how do you keep the hairs from
>falling out into the ink?
Me too (sharkskin)! I've tried that and I don't enjoy it at
all! The 'pros' do seem still to regularly treat their brushes that
way (by running them for hours across stretched sharkskin) -- the
idea is to both taper the hair ends and more importantly to split the
ends which allows smoother brush-up (kinda like those hardware store
brushes with synthetic bristles which are split and resplit at the
ends -- the more hairs, the smoother the paint goes on). I've made a
ton of 'student' brushes from horsehair shoe brushes (I look for
cheap brushes with the most dense hairs -- thin/few hairs are less
suitable) and then 'prepare them' by trimming to shape with scissors,
then singing the ends (SMELLY!) with a propane torch, then sanding
them for a few minutes on a belt or disk sander. That seems to
produce a decent printing brush very quickly! My experience is that
the 'professional' brushes from BarenMall
http://barenforum.org/mall/products/maru_bake.php are good to go when
they arrive -- no split ends, but nicely tapered and print very well
right out of the box.
Having printed a LOT with watercolor and brushes as well as with ink
and rollers, I've believe that brushes are faster and easier than
brayers, although the techniques are so different that comparison is
kinda fuzzy :). Hairs don't fall out of good quality (and well
maintained) brushes and a large brush in a practiced hand prepares a
huge area VERY quickly -- much faster and easier than with a roller, IMO.
-- Mike
Mike Lyon
Kansas City, Missouri
http://mlyon.com
Message 3
From: "robert"
Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 16:16:26 +0000
Subject: [Baren 29373] Re: New Baren Digest (HTML) V33 #3277 (Dec 2, 2005)
Send Message: To this poster
Marissa,
Here is a link off of Graham Sholes' website about making a brush, He converted a cheese grater into "dragon skin"
You can buy dragon skin, I think in the barens mall. Anyway, take a look and see that you always have other options!
http://www.woodblock.info/bootcamp/inkbrush.html
Barbara, Your link has been updated in the site and I quoted you from the link. I hope it is what you would like. An avatar for you?
Cheers,
rob
http://www.howdidyoumakethat.com
and
http://www.robertviana.com
and
... just kidding!
Message 4
From: "Marilynn Smith"
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 08:26:21 -0800
Subject: [Baren 29374] Re: Baren Digest (old) V33 #3277
Send Message: To this poster
Marissa, welcome. I agree with many others on this list, your work is
superb. Hanga is very technical and takes a bit to learn, I feel I am very
much still a beginner. But I agree with Mike Lyon, the type of images you
are creating would work wonderfully with Hanga. If you could make it to the
next Baren summit next August you will see many folks working on both oil
and water techniques and feel very welcomed. Also it would let you see
first hand what hanga is about and introduce you to this marvelous
technique. Thanks so much for sharing your work, I am so bad at
registration and also have a hard time preplanning. Your work would be a
good direction for me, I love the abstract images you have done. You have
given me food for thought, thanks for sharing.
Marilynn
Message 5
From: Mike Lyon
Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 10:39:34 -0600
Subject: [Baren 29375] Exchange #27 coordinator
Send Message: To this poster
Bea Gold has graciously volunteered to coordinate
Baren
Exchange #27! Bea is a wonderful person, experienced printer, and
was the Baren Exchange Manager before me -- you'll discover that
she's an excellent coordinator! I hope you'll feel free to contact
here with any questions at her coordinator email address:
mailto:coordinator27@barenforum.org
Please respect that the drop-out deadline for #27 is now less than a
month away and your (31) prints are due on or before February 1st. If
you haven't already, better get started now!
-- Mike
Mike Lyon
Kansas City, Missouri
http://mlyon.com
Baren
Exchange #27! Bea is a wonderful person, experienced printer, and
was the Baren Exchange Manager before me -- you'll discover that
she's an excellent coordinator! I hope you'll feel free to contact
here with any questions at her coordinator email address:
mailto:coordinator27@barenforum.org
Please respect that the drop-out deadline for #27 is now less than a
month away and your (31) prints are due on or before February 1st. If
you haven't already, better get started now!
-- Mike
Mike Lyon
Kansas City, Missouri
http://mlyon.com
Message 6
From: Bretsch Katie
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 10:34:00 -0800
Subject: [Baren 29376] A Newbie's Lament
Send Message: To this poster
Working on my first block. Using a bit of 1/8th inch plywood. Not going
well at all. Have determined that cutting wood is MUCH HARDER than
cutting lino. (Duh!) Am thinking of dumping the wood carving tools sold
me by the art supply store (which seem wrong for exact, shallow cuts)
for Exacto knives of various types. Or, maybe I need to regrind the
edges on the art supply store's tools for shallow work? Any suggestions
welcome! Thanks in advance. KB
well at all. Have determined that cutting wood is MUCH HARDER than
cutting lino. (Duh!) Am thinking of dumping the wood carving tools sold
me by the art supply store (which seem wrong for exact, shallow cuts)
for Exacto knives of various types. Or, maybe I need to regrind the
edges on the art supply store's tools for shallow work? Any suggestions
welcome! Thanks in advance. KB
Message 7
From: "Jean Womack"
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 11:53:52 -0800
Subject: [Baren 29377] Exchange 27
Send Message: To this poster
I'm making my Exchange #27 print hanga style, with Createx pigments. I hope that is acceptable.
Jean Womack
Jean Womack
Message 8
From: Wanda Robertson
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 11:56:00 -0800
Subject: [Baren 29378] Re: A Newbie's Lament
Send Message: To this poster
Katie, it depends on the quality of the tools you are using. I suspect
that your tools need sharpening if you are having this much trouble
carving. Also, 1/8th plywood doesn't give you much leeway. I use a
1/2" or 3/4' piece when carving plywood. It is harder than lino & you
have to remember you are carving stuff with a grain. As lino has no
grain, it does not have the same "feel" as wood. Hang in there, it
will grow on you!
Wanda
that your tools need sharpening if you are having this much trouble
carving. Also, 1/8th plywood doesn't give you much leeway. I use a
1/2" or 3/4' piece when carving plywood. It is harder than lino & you
have to remember you are carving stuff with a grain. As lino has no
grain, it does not have the same "feel" as wood. Hang in there, it
will grow on you!
Wanda
Message 9
From: Julio.Rodriguez # walgreens.com
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 14:27:36 -0600
Subject: [Baren 29379] Re: A Newbie's Lament
Send Message: To this poster
Hi Katie, welcome to Baren.....
A combination of the proper tools and the right wood will give you the
best results. If you are using Shina plywood which is sold specifically
for woodcuts then the problem is probably the tools.....Shina is available
from many sources, cuts easy and is used by many printmakers here...maple
or cherry plywood would be tougher and would need sharp tools for
sure....in the other hand if you are like me and like to grab whatever
piece of wood is close by.....you'll find certain types of plywoods easier
to carve than others. Check out your local lumber place for
scraps.
I was working on a piece of construction grade ply the other day that had
one side nice and smooth like birch plywood but the other side was rough
and grainy like Luan.....I used the Luan like side to carve a color area
where I wanted some wood texture to print and then used the other smooth
side to carve the keyblock detailed area. Another problem you'll find
with 1/8 ply besides the obvious limitation of carving depth is that if
you use waterbased pigments the ply will absorb water and warp 1/2 way
thru your print run causing printing problems and possibly throwing your
registration off. A way around this is to use thicker ply (1/2 - 3/4") or
after carving screw your 1/8 ply to a thicker block before printing....a
few small screws could be driven in waste areas that have been carved out
and then set flush with the wood.
good luck with your first block......Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois)
A combination of the proper tools and the right wood will give you the
best results. If you are using Shina plywood which is sold specifically
for woodcuts then the problem is probably the tools.....Shina is available
from many sources, cuts easy and is used by many printmakers here...maple
or cherry plywood would be tougher and would need sharp tools for
sure....in the other hand if you are like me and like to grab whatever
piece of wood is close by.....you'll find certain types of plywoods easier
to carve than others. Check out your local lumber place for
scraps.
I was working on a piece of construction grade ply the other day that had
one side nice and smooth like birch plywood but the other side was rough
and grainy like Luan.....I used the Luan like side to carve a color area
where I wanted some wood texture to print and then used the other smooth
side to carve the keyblock detailed area. Another problem you'll find
with 1/8 ply besides the obvious limitation of carving depth is that if
you use waterbased pigments the ply will absorb water and warp 1/2 way
thru your print run causing printing problems and possibly throwing your
registration off. A way around this is to use thicker ply (1/2 - 3/4") or
after carving screw your 1/8 ply to a thicker block before printing....a
few small screws could be driven in waste areas that have been carved out
and then set flush with the wood.
good luck with your first block......Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois)
Message 10
From: Julio.Rodriguez # walgreens.com
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 15:17:06 -0600
Subject: [Baren 29380] Re: brushes and things......
Send Message: To this poster
Hi Marissa, welcome to Baren....I agree with the others, your work is very
vibrant and fresh...your style looks like a good candidate for waterbased
moku-hanga.
" When I read that the brushes are supposed to be hit against a piece of
sharkskin for the better
part of a day I was filled with horror!"
Well, I don't think there are many people that still do that...even in
Japan...for one you can buy the
moku-hanga brushes ready to use. Others use power tool contraptions or
sandpaper to do the fine tuning.
The purpose of using the shark skin or other modern methods is to split
the point of the hairs so that when brushing the color unto the block you
can get a very fine application w/o leaving brush strokes behind and to
give the hairs a nicely rounded shape..shorter on the edges and a little
longer in the center of the brush. Even if you don't prepare the brushes
and use them as received...the results would probably not be noticeable
unless you are doing very fine delicate printing....I would compare it to
using a brayer that has some nicks or is worn out a bit...you may not get
a perfect rollout or streaks...but it is still very usable.
"How do the brushes compare to brayers and how do you keep the hairs from
falling out into the ink? "
On this I would say that good quality brushes can last a very long time. I
got mine used over seven years and they have plenty of life left. I don't
have problems with hairs falling and it could be because I don't let water
get to the wood base of the brush. Carefully rinsing of the hairs as
described last week and drying with the hair down helps to keep the brush
in good shape. Because the brush is used directly on the block.....when an
occasional hair does fall it is easily lifted from the block with a sharp
tool and then a quick pass with the brush eliminates any streaks caused by
the offending hair.
One way I think that brushes are superior to brayers is in the application
of bokashi gradations. All kinds of amazing subtle to harsh gradations can
be achieved using the proper brush technique. My setup includes 4-5
brushes, one each for the main color groups and one for black use only.
For a while I did fine with just three brushes...one each for cools, warm
colors & black.
thanks....Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois)
vibrant and fresh...your style looks like a good candidate for waterbased
moku-hanga.
" When I read that the brushes are supposed to be hit against a piece of
sharkskin for the better
part of a day I was filled with horror!"
Well, I don't think there are many people that still do that...even in
Japan...for one you can buy the
moku-hanga brushes ready to use. Others use power tool contraptions or
sandpaper to do the fine tuning.
The purpose of using the shark skin or other modern methods is to split
the point of the hairs so that when brushing the color unto the block you
can get a very fine application w/o leaving brush strokes behind and to
give the hairs a nicely rounded shape..shorter on the edges and a little
longer in the center of the brush. Even if you don't prepare the brushes
and use them as received...the results would probably not be noticeable
unless you are doing very fine delicate printing....I would compare it to
using a brayer that has some nicks or is worn out a bit...you may not get
a perfect rollout or streaks...but it is still very usable.
"How do the brushes compare to brayers and how do you keep the hairs from
falling out into the ink? "
On this I would say that good quality brushes can last a very long time. I
got mine used over seven years and they have plenty of life left. I don't
have problems with hairs falling and it could be because I don't let water
get to the wood base of the brush. Carefully rinsing of the hairs as
described last week and drying with the hair down helps to keep the brush
in good shape. Because the brush is used directly on the block.....when an
occasional hair does fall it is easily lifted from the block with a sharp
tool and then a quick pass with the brush eliminates any streaks caused by
the offending hair.
One way I think that brushes are superior to brayers is in the application
of bokashi gradations. All kinds of amazing subtle to harsh gradations can
be achieved using the proper brush technique. My setup includes 4-5
brushes, one each for the main color groups and one for black use only.
For a while I did fine with just three brushes...one each for cools, warm
colors & black.
thanks....Julio Rodriguez (Skokie, Illinois)
Message 11
From: ArtfulCarol # aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 16:46:17 EST
Subject: [Baren 29381] Re: A Newbie's Lament
Send Message: To this poster
Hi, this is just my experience with Shina wood. I have been taught by THE
best in Baren and no matter how I try I can't keep wood from chipping off
narrow lines.( Could be me!)
I accept a chip or 2 and keep on going or I compose with larger shapes.
Someone once said that if you oil the wood it will not happen. After carving
just clean the wood and let it dry.
Go for different wood.
Good luck!
Keep at it...
Carol L.
best in Baren and no matter how I try I can't keep wood from chipping off
narrow lines.( Could be me!)
I accept a chip or 2 and keep on going or I compose with larger shapes.
Someone once said that if you oil the wood it will not happen. After carving
just clean the wood and let it dry.
Go for different wood.
Good luck!
Keep at it...
Carol L.
Message 12
From: "robert"
Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 21:45:51 +0000
Subject: [Baren 29382] yeah Baby! Site has been made official!!
Send Message: To this poster
Hello everyone!!
I have some very, very, Exciting news!!!
The howdidyoumakethat? website is finally offical!!!! I have purchased another webname and it is.......
www.printmakers.info
Isn't this exciting!!!
The old name will be active throughout so don't worry. But we are now
http://www.printmakers.info.
I thought that everyone would like to know. I am very happy to have been able to purchase this for us all. I obviously couldn't get printmakers dot com due to it being taken, plus this is a non-profit site so I think that this is also a good thing. It is to share info with one another!!!
Ok peace!
Robert
I have some very, very, Exciting news!!!
The howdidyoumakethat? website is finally offical!!!! I have purchased another webname and it is.......
www.printmakers.info
Isn't this exciting!!!
The old name will be active throughout so don't worry. But we are now
http://www.printmakers.info.
I thought that everyone would like to know. I am very happy to have been able to purchase this for us all. I obviously couldn't get printmakers dot com due to it being taken, plus this is a non-profit site so I think that this is also a good thing. It is to share info with one another!!!
Ok peace!
Robert
Message 13
From: Marissa Verma
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 13:48:25 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 29383] Re: A Newbie's Lament
Send Message: To this poster
Before you carve but after you draw on the wood try
coating the wood with a layer of shellac. I find that
prevents a lot of chipping in Shina wood.
~marissa
coating the wood with a layer of shellac. I find that
prevents a lot of chipping in Shina wood.
~marissa