Today's postings
- [Baren 31077] pigments (Cucamongie # aol.com)
- [Baren 31078] Re: pigments (Bobbi Chukran)
- [Baren 31079] Re: Time? thanks! ("Lee Churchill")
- [Baren 31080] Re: Exhibition during summit (Sharri LaPierre)
- [Baren 31081] Re: Exhibition during summit (bridget pilip)
- [Baren 31082] Re: Baren Digest (old) V35 #3511 (Charles Morgan)
- [Baren 31083] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
Message 1
From: Cucamongie # aol.com
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 09:37:19 EDT
Subject: [Baren 31077] pigments
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Thanks, Charles, for explaining the "why" of pigments in such an articulate
manner, that's a great list.
the only thing I would add to your list is price. Those little tubes of
gouache really add up in price, and you are going to get a LOT more for your
money from the pigments.
best
Sarah
manner, that's a great list.
the only thing I would add to your list is price. Those little tubes of
gouache really add up in price, and you are going to get a LOT more for your
money from the pigments.
best
Sarah
Message 2
From: Bobbi Chukran
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 08:38:23 -0500
Subject: [Baren 31078] Re: pigments
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>Thanks, Charles, for explaining the "why" of pigments in such an
>articulate manner, that's a great list.
>
Yes, thanks Charles!
Bobbi C.
>articulate manner, that's a great list.
>
Yes, thanks Charles!
Bobbi C.
Message 3
From: "Lee Churchill"
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 13:23:10 -0600
Subject: [Baren 31079] Re: Time? thanks!
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Hi Sharri :-7,
I would love to come to Portland, sadly, I think the trip from Calgary and the accommodation expenses are out of my range. :'(
I do do many types of printing without a press, watercolour mono-printing, lino-block printing, jigsaw printing, woodcut, and I've even given Japanese woodblock a whirl (though heaven knows the results were questionable). BUT my full-time work is very hard on my hands, wrists and shoulders, so coming home at night to print using a baren or wooden spoon is less attractive to me. I really have to juggle what types of treatments I am doing at work against what stages my art is in at home. I hope that if ever I get a press it will help cut down on some of the 'ow-ies' and twinges I suffer from! If anyone knows ways of printing that involve less pressure (or a good book on how to improve my Japanese woodblock technique) I'm totally open to suggestions!
Cheers,
Lee.
I would love to come to Portland, sadly, I think the trip from Calgary and the accommodation expenses are out of my range. :'(
I do do many types of printing without a press, watercolour mono-printing, lino-block printing, jigsaw printing, woodcut, and I've even given Japanese woodblock a whirl (though heaven knows the results were questionable). BUT my full-time work is very hard on my hands, wrists and shoulders, so coming home at night to print using a baren or wooden spoon is less attractive to me. I really have to juggle what types of treatments I am doing at work against what stages my art is in at home. I hope that if ever I get a press it will help cut down on some of the 'ow-ies' and twinges I suffer from! If anyone knows ways of printing that involve less pressure (or a good book on how to improve my Japanese woodblock technique) I'm totally open to suggestions!
Cheers,
Lee.
Message 4
From: Sharri LaPierre
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 12:40:04 -0700
Subject: [Baren 31080] Re: Exhibition during summit
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NOTE TO ALL SUMMIT ATTENDEES:
I was just notified that we (Barenforum folk) can have one of the
gallery rooms for an exhibition at North Bank Gallery in downtown
Vancouver for the month of August. I thought this was not going to
happen, so all of you who said yes before - please contact me again and
tell me you are interested. I will need the work, framed and ready to
hang, prior to Aug. 1. I am also thinking I will need return shipping
included, but I won't know that for sure until we see how many register
and what the actual expenses for the summit will be. If there are
sufficient funds, then they will cover the return shipping and I can
destroy or return your checks. Please let me know if you can send work
& want to be part of this exhibition asap! If there are special needs
re/ shipping framed work from out of the country, let me know that,
too, as I might have an extra frame we can use around here someplace.
Cheers - the show must go on!
Sharri
I was just notified that we (Barenforum folk) can have one of the
gallery rooms for an exhibition at North Bank Gallery in downtown
Vancouver for the month of August. I thought this was not going to
happen, so all of you who said yes before - please contact me again and
tell me you are interested. I will need the work, framed and ready to
hang, prior to Aug. 1. I am also thinking I will need return shipping
included, but I won't know that for sure until we see how many register
and what the actual expenses for the summit will be. If there are
sufficient funds, then they will cover the return shipping and I can
destroy or return your checks. Please let me know if you can send work
& want to be part of this exhibition asap! If there are special needs
re/ shipping framed work from out of the country, let me know that,
too, as I might have an extra frame we can use around here someplace.
Cheers - the show must go on!
Sharri
Message 5
From: bridget pilip
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 13:25:57 -0700
Subject: [Baren 31081] Re: Exhibition during summit
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i would like to participate.
bridget
p.s.
haven't sent you the check yet either...sorry...will get it to you soon
bridget
p.s.
haven't sent you the check yet either...sorry...will get it to you soon
Message 6
From: Charles Morgan
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:44:25 -0700
Subject: [Baren 31082] Re: Baren Digest (old) V35 #3511
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>Oh Charles, you are mixing your pigments for oil based printing. Do you
>use linseed oil for this??? What is the chemistry??? I could fly into
>baja with powdered pigment, but not with anything mixed. Airlines are not
>very aware of chemistry. That would be an excellent solution for me! Do
>write and tell me about how you are mixing your oiol pigments.
>Marilynn
Hello Marilynn,
I use the pigment dispersions from Guerra, as that is easier than using dry
pigments. Because they are mixed with ethylene glycol, they will blend
happily with either water or oil. But if you want to take only powdered
pigments, you will have to work just a little differently.
With powdered pigments, you need to make a paste with a bit of PURE
alcohol. The purpose of the alcohol is to wet the microscopic grains of
pigment so they will mix easily with the ink medium. Most of the powdered
pigments do not "wet" very easily, and form clumps when put into water or oil.
Now, there is no such thing as really pure alcohol, but you want the purest
you can get. I would avoid methyl alcohol and denatured alcohol (usually
found in hardware stores), as both are seriously toxic. Stick to either
isopropyl alcohol (found in drug stores as "rubbing" alcohol) or ethyl
alcohol (what is in booze).
Here in BC you can buy 99% pure isopropyl alcohol. In some places it may be
kept behind the counter and you will have to ask for it, but here it is out
on the shelf. Be careful to read the label. Isopropyl alcohol is sold in
various strengths ... you want 99% pure.
If one distills "grain" alcohol (ethyl alcohol, ethanol) from a water
solution, the purest you can get it is about 95% pure. Medically pure
ethanol is 95%, the remaining 5% being water. Chemically pure ethanol is
distilled from a benzene solution and you can get it up to 98% pure; the
remaining 2% is benzene. Benzene is NASTY stuff, and you do not want it
near you. (There are many cases of serious poisoning, blindness and death
from students making alcohol punch and stupidly using chemically pure
ethanol rather than medically pure ethanol.) In many places (alas, not here
in BC) you can buy medically pure ethanol in liquor stores. I have seen it
sold under various trade names, including Ever Clear, PGA (pure grain
alcohol), and Clear Spring.
Now, just a word about "proof". The term "proof" when applied to booze is
just double the alcohol percentage. So 90 proof booze is just 45% alcohol;
100 proof booze is just 50% alcohol. What you want is 190 proof booze.
Booze that is 190 proof is 95% alcohol.
If you are going to be making an oily ink, you do not want water in your
pigment. So use alcohol as pure as you can buy it. Make a paste from your
powdered pigments by putting a few drops of alcohol on the powder and
mixing it carefully ... by all means do not breathe any dust, and keep the
stuff off your skin ... use standard precautions. I believe Dave gives good
instructions for making pigment/alcohol paste. Then you need to mix the
resulting alcohol paste into the appropriate medium.
For crude color trials, just add a bit of your paste to some water and
paint it on a piece of paper. That will give a good idea of the color.
If you are doing hanga, just follow Dave's directions for pigment and paste.
The alcohol paste should mix with any watery medium. Speedball sells clear
water based ink base in small tubes; you can use that with your pigment
paste for a good quality, rewettable block printing ink. Just mix the paste
in with the ink base. People usually fault Speedball inks because of their
alleged low pigment content and/or high filler content. By using your own
pigments, you can make very intense inks using the Speedball medium, with
no filler. As another alternative, I have recently bought some clear water
based etching ink base from Akua, but have not tried it yet. For screen
printing, I just mix the pigment dispersion with thickly mixed wallpaper paste.
Your alcohol paste should also mix with any oily medium. For oily inks, I
use clear etching ink base (tint base). Graphic Chemical and Ink and
Handschy both sell it, as do a number of other folks. These commercial ink
manufacturers have spent a lot of time and money developing ink base with
just the right qualities, and I do not think I can do any better. Just mix
your pigment paste into a blob of the ink base, and you are ready to go. To
loosen up the etching ink for block printing, I just add some artist's
quality linseed oil. Some folks I know just use vegetable oil, but
vegetable oil does not have the same drying properties as linseed oil, and
I would not use it in my ink.
I went to a local plastic shop and bought some small, wide mouth plastic
containers with screw on lids ... they are sold to hold cosmetics. Jars in
the 2 oz range should be adequate. I mix my ink directly in a jar. Then if
I need to put it aside for a brief time, I can put the lid on and keep it
from forming a skin overnight. For longer periods of storage, IF YOU ARE
USING OIL BASED MEDIUM just put a layer of water on top of the ink. The
water will keep the ink from skinning over. When you want to use the ink
later, just pour off the water ... the oily ink and the water will not mix.
The plastic containers will not rust, so your ink will stay good for a very
long time. Do not put water on top of a water based ink, as the ink and
water will mix, ruining your ink.
Well, that's about it. It would be a good idea to experiment at home a bit
to be sure this will work for you on the road. Good luck, and let me know
how it works out.
Cheers ..... Charles
>use linseed oil for this??? What is the chemistry??? I could fly into
>baja with powdered pigment, but not with anything mixed. Airlines are not
>very aware of chemistry. That would be an excellent solution for me! Do
>write and tell me about how you are mixing your oiol pigments.
>Marilynn
Hello Marilynn,
I use the pigment dispersions from Guerra, as that is easier than using dry
pigments. Because they are mixed with ethylene glycol, they will blend
happily with either water or oil. But if you want to take only powdered
pigments, you will have to work just a little differently.
With powdered pigments, you need to make a paste with a bit of PURE
alcohol. The purpose of the alcohol is to wet the microscopic grains of
pigment so they will mix easily with the ink medium. Most of the powdered
pigments do not "wet" very easily, and form clumps when put into water or oil.
Now, there is no such thing as really pure alcohol, but you want the purest
you can get. I would avoid methyl alcohol and denatured alcohol (usually
found in hardware stores), as both are seriously toxic. Stick to either
isopropyl alcohol (found in drug stores as "rubbing" alcohol) or ethyl
alcohol (what is in booze).
Here in BC you can buy 99% pure isopropyl alcohol. In some places it may be
kept behind the counter and you will have to ask for it, but here it is out
on the shelf. Be careful to read the label. Isopropyl alcohol is sold in
various strengths ... you want 99% pure.
If one distills "grain" alcohol (ethyl alcohol, ethanol) from a water
solution, the purest you can get it is about 95% pure. Medically pure
ethanol is 95%, the remaining 5% being water. Chemically pure ethanol is
distilled from a benzene solution and you can get it up to 98% pure; the
remaining 2% is benzene. Benzene is NASTY stuff, and you do not want it
near you. (There are many cases of serious poisoning, blindness and death
from students making alcohol punch and stupidly using chemically pure
ethanol rather than medically pure ethanol.) In many places (alas, not here
in BC) you can buy medically pure ethanol in liquor stores. I have seen it
sold under various trade names, including Ever Clear, PGA (pure grain
alcohol), and Clear Spring.
Now, just a word about "proof". The term "proof" when applied to booze is
just double the alcohol percentage. So 90 proof booze is just 45% alcohol;
100 proof booze is just 50% alcohol. What you want is 190 proof booze.
Booze that is 190 proof is 95% alcohol.
If you are going to be making an oily ink, you do not want water in your
pigment. So use alcohol as pure as you can buy it. Make a paste from your
powdered pigments by putting a few drops of alcohol on the powder and
mixing it carefully ... by all means do not breathe any dust, and keep the
stuff off your skin ... use standard precautions. I believe Dave gives good
instructions for making pigment/alcohol paste. Then you need to mix the
resulting alcohol paste into the appropriate medium.
For crude color trials, just add a bit of your paste to some water and
paint it on a piece of paper. That will give a good idea of the color.
If you are doing hanga, just follow Dave's directions for pigment and paste.
The alcohol paste should mix with any watery medium. Speedball sells clear
water based ink base in small tubes; you can use that with your pigment
paste for a good quality, rewettable block printing ink. Just mix the paste
in with the ink base. People usually fault Speedball inks because of their
alleged low pigment content and/or high filler content. By using your own
pigments, you can make very intense inks using the Speedball medium, with
no filler. As another alternative, I have recently bought some clear water
based etching ink base from Akua, but have not tried it yet. For screen
printing, I just mix the pigment dispersion with thickly mixed wallpaper paste.
Your alcohol paste should also mix with any oily medium. For oily inks, I
use clear etching ink base (tint base). Graphic Chemical and Ink and
Handschy both sell it, as do a number of other folks. These commercial ink
manufacturers have spent a lot of time and money developing ink base with
just the right qualities, and I do not think I can do any better. Just mix
your pigment paste into a blob of the ink base, and you are ready to go. To
loosen up the etching ink for block printing, I just add some artist's
quality linseed oil. Some folks I know just use vegetable oil, but
vegetable oil does not have the same drying properties as linseed oil, and
I would not use it in my ink.
I went to a local plastic shop and bought some small, wide mouth plastic
containers with screw on lids ... they are sold to hold cosmetics. Jars in
the 2 oz range should be adequate. I mix my ink directly in a jar. Then if
I need to put it aside for a brief time, I can put the lid on and keep it
from forming a skin overnight. For longer periods of storage, IF YOU ARE
USING OIL BASED MEDIUM just put a layer of water on top of the ink. The
water will keep the ink from skinning over. When you want to use the ink
later, just pour off the water ... the oily ink and the water will not mix.
The plastic containers will not rust, so your ink will stay good for a very
long time. Do not put water on top of a water based ink, as the ink and
water will mix, ruining your ink.
Well, that's about it. It would be a good idea to experiment at home a bit
to be sure this will work for you on the road. Good luck, and let me know
how it works out.
Cheers ..... Charles
Message 7
From: Blog Manager
Date: 15 Jun 2006 03:55:05 -0000
Subject: [Baren 31083] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification
Send Message: To this poster
This is an automatic update message being sent to [Baren] by the forum blog software.
The following new entries were found on the listed printmaker's websites during the past 24 hours. (21 sites checked, five minutes before midnight Eastern time)
*****************
Site Name: Mike Lyon's Moku Hanga
Author: Mike Lyon
Item: Ethan and Arianna pen and ink drawing
http://mlyon.com/blog/2006/06/ethan-and-arianna-pen-and-ink-drawing.html
*****************
Site Name: m.Lee Fine Art
Author: m.Lee
Item: Selling Older "keepers"
http://mleeprints.blogspot.com/2006/06/selling-older-keepers.html
Author: m.Lee
Item: Fun?
http://mleeprints.blogspot.com/2006/06/fun.html
*****************
[Baren] members: if you have a printmaking blog (or a website with a published ATOM feed), and wish it to be included in this daily checklist, please write to the Baren Blog Manager at:
http://barenforum.org/contact_baren.php
For reference, sites/blogs currently being checked are:
http://barenforum.org/blog
http://woodblock.com
http://woodblockdreams.blogspot.com
http://studiodiary.blogspot.com
http://larimerart.blogspot.com
http://artflights.blogspot.com
http://perfect-press.blogspot.com
http://printmakersmaterials.blogspot.com
http://mlyon.com/blog
http://room535.blogspot.com
http://mleeprints.blogspot.com
http://snowgum.blogspot.com
http://onthisblock.blogspot.com
http://pressing-issues.blogspot.com
http://www.1000woodcuts.com
http://theitinerantartist.blogspot.com
http://PLawing-Printmaker.blogspot.com
http://readdevine.blogspot.com
http://mokuhankan.com/conversations
http://mokuhankan.com
http://belindadelpesco.blogspot.com
The following new entries were found on the listed printmaker's websites during the past 24 hours. (21 sites checked, five minutes before midnight Eastern time)
*****************
Site Name: Mike Lyon's Moku Hanga
Author: Mike Lyon
Item: Ethan and Arianna pen and ink drawing
http://mlyon.com/blog/2006/06/ethan-and-arianna-pen-and-ink-drawing.html
*****************
Site Name: m.Lee Fine Art
Author: m.Lee
Item: Selling Older "keepers"
http://mleeprints.blogspot.com/2006/06/selling-older-keepers.html
Author: m.Lee
Item: Fun?
http://mleeprints.blogspot.com/2006/06/fun.html
*****************
[Baren] members: if you have a printmaking blog (or a website with a published ATOM feed), and wish it to be included in this daily checklist, please write to the Baren Blog Manager at:
http://barenforum.org/contact_baren.php
For reference, sites/blogs currently being checked are:
http://barenforum.org/blog
http://woodblock.com
http://woodblockdreams.blogspot.com
http://studiodiary.blogspot.com
http://larimerart.blogspot.com
http://artflights.blogspot.com
http://perfect-press.blogspot.com
http://printmakersmaterials.blogspot.com
http://mlyon.com/blog
http://room535.blogspot.com
http://mleeprints.blogspot.com
http://snowgum.blogspot.com
http://onthisblock.blogspot.com
http://pressing-issues.blogspot.com
http://www.1000woodcuts.com
http://theitinerantartist.blogspot.com
http://PLawing-Printmaker.blogspot.com
http://readdevine.blogspot.com
http://mokuhankan.com/conversations
http://mokuhankan.com
http://belindadelpesco.blogspot.com