Today's postings
- [Baren 34569] Re: Baren Digest (old) V41 #4110 ("Marilynn Smith")
- [Baren 34570] Re: View of image (Jan Telfer)
- [Baren 34571] Re: Fw: The Spinning Silhouette (ArtfulCarol # aol.com)
- [Baren 34572] Non Drying Inks (Clive)
- [Baren 34573] Southern Summer Northern Winter 2007 solstice mini-print exchange (Charles Morgan)
- [Baren 34574] Re: Fw: The Spinning Silhouette (L Cass)
- [Baren 34575] Etching with Electricity (was Cedric Green) (Mr Dean Thompson)
- [Baren 34576] Re: Etching with Electricity (was Cedric Green) (Charles Morgan)
- [Baren 34577] Re: Etching with Electricity (was Cedric Green) (Ruth Leaf)
- [Baren 34578] RE: Baren Digest (old) V41 #4128 (Misty Arnold)
Message 1
From: "Marilynn Smith"
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 06:02:12 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34569] Re: Baren Digest (old) V41 #4110
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Mike, I am even later to add a comment about your Jim prints. I prefer the
plain background. It is enough to look at all the detail of the face, I
find the woodgrain a bit distracting. I do like woodgrain in prints but
this one I prefer on a plain background.
Just now catching up on some of the email I have missed this past month or
so. Glad to be back.
Julio, glad to hear we will do a year of the rat exchange. I was born in
the year of the rat so this one I will have to do!!! I agree, if you have
not mailed any of your prints from previous years, it is still not too late,
we always love getting these wonderful things in the mail.
Marilynn
plain background. It is enough to look at all the detail of the face, I
find the woodgrain a bit distracting. I do like woodgrain in prints but
this one I prefer on a plain background.
Just now catching up on some of the email I have missed this past month or
so. Glad to be back.
Julio, glad to hear we will do a year of the rat exchange. I was born in
the year of the rat so this one I will have to do!!! I agree, if you have
not mailed any of your prints from previous years, it is still not too late,
we always love getting these wonderful things in the mail.
Marilynn
Message 2
From: Jan Telfer
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 23:36:41 +0800
Subject: [Baren 34570] Re: View of image
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An interesting point Connie. I saw it only in the clockwise direction,
but will open it up again another time and look at it again. Having an
Olympic Gymnast daughter and a gym judge having seen it spin one way I
couldn't reverse it in my mind again straight away... if I had seen it
in reality then I would have no trouble!
I draw my images as I want them, transfer them in reverse with a
photocopied turps technique on to the block then carve them and print
them as I first drew the design.
That is the way I visualise them all the time, yet when I am carving I
can see the image in the reverse.... if any are difficult or of course
very very detailed I peg the used image onto the window in front of me
and let the sunshine do its light box thingie for me to see it in the
reverse more easily or if that is not fine enough I print the image on
to acetate (over-head projector sheet) and then it is easy to flip the
design over to see it in reverse through the clear page.
I hope this helps some carvers too.
Jan
but will open it up again another time and look at it again. Having an
Olympic Gymnast daughter and a gym judge having seen it spin one way I
couldn't reverse it in my mind again straight away... if I had seen it
in reality then I would have no trouble!
I draw my images as I want them, transfer them in reverse with a
photocopied turps technique on to the block then carve them and print
them as I first drew the design.
That is the way I visualise them all the time, yet when I am carving I
can see the image in the reverse.... if any are difficult or of course
very very detailed I peg the used image onto the window in front of me
and let the sunshine do its light box thingie for me to see it in the
reverse more easily or if that is not fine enough I print the image on
to acetate (over-head projector sheet) and then it is easy to flip the
design over to see it in reverse through the clear page.
I hope this helps some carvers too.
Jan
Message 3
From: ArtfulCarol # aol.com
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 09:56:33 EST
Subject: [Baren 34571] Re: Fw: The Spinning Silhouette
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Attachment could not be processed.
Message 4
From: Clive
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 10:37:43 -0500
Subject: [Baren 34572] Non Drying Inks
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This is a bit slow in coming, I can't seem to post to Baren via my Mac.
Viza wrote that " the ink wasn't drying and the bottom layers of
color seemed to be coming up all splotchy through the top layer they
(Daniel Smith Inks) basically said it was some how my fault and maybe
i need to take a printmaking class.
I had the same issue on a print and asked the head pressman at a
printing company about it. He explained that there are three
chemicals in letterpress inks one of which acts to keep the other two
from acting on each other. When we make a print that first chemical
is absorbed into the paper allowing the other two to react in a way
that causes them to dry. The problem arises when we get so much ink
coverage that 1st chemical can't be absorbed allowing the other two
to go to work on each other. In her email Barbara mentioned blotting
each colour; that's achieving the same end, removing that 1st
chemical, but I suspect that it dulls down the ink. There's another way.
Because offset presses print over 10,000 sheets an hour and have 2,
4, 5 or 6 colours in a row, the ink only has a fraction of a second
to start drying before the second, third or fourth colour is added.
To speed this drying process up there are dryers added that don't
depend on absorption and as such will work when printed on top of
heavy ink coverage. On the occasions that I've needed to buy these
inks I've gone either to a printer or to one of the Paper and ink
Merchants that the printers use. You can buy 1lb cans of most colours
fairly inexpensively. Sometimes a printer will even give you the last
bit of a can. You need to remember to wash up plates and rollers
right away, the ink drys on them and is time consuming to remove. A
piece of plastic wrap pushed down tightly on the ink in its can when
you are finished helps stop the scumming.
I hope this all helps.
Clive
Viza wrote that " the ink wasn't drying and the bottom layers of
color seemed to be coming up all splotchy through the top layer they
(Daniel Smith Inks) basically said it was some how my fault and maybe
i need to take a printmaking class.
I had the same issue on a print and asked the head pressman at a
printing company about it. He explained that there are three
chemicals in letterpress inks one of which acts to keep the other two
from acting on each other. When we make a print that first chemical
is absorbed into the paper allowing the other two to react in a way
that causes them to dry. The problem arises when we get so much ink
coverage that 1st chemical can't be absorbed allowing the other two
to go to work on each other. In her email Barbara mentioned blotting
each colour; that's achieving the same end, removing that 1st
chemical, but I suspect that it dulls down the ink. There's another way.
Because offset presses print over 10,000 sheets an hour and have 2,
4, 5 or 6 colours in a row, the ink only has a fraction of a second
to start drying before the second, third or fourth colour is added.
To speed this drying process up there are dryers added that don't
depend on absorption and as such will work when printed on top of
heavy ink coverage. On the occasions that I've needed to buy these
inks I've gone either to a printer or to one of the Paper and ink
Merchants that the printers use. You can buy 1lb cans of most colours
fairly inexpensively. Sometimes a printer will even give you the last
bit of a can. You need to remember to wash up plates and rollers
right away, the ink drys on them and is time consuming to remove. A
piece of plastic wrap pushed down tightly on the ink in its can when
you are finished helps stop the scumming.
I hope this all helps.
Clive
Message 5
From: Charles Morgan
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 07:54:47 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34573] Southern Summer Northern Winter 2007 solstice mini-print exchange
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##### SSNW07 #####
THE EVENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!
THE Southern Summer Northern Winter 2007 solstice mini-print exchange
Sign-ups for this FABULOUS exchange are now open.
SIGN-UP DEADLINE: December 21, 2007
PRINTS DUE: February 1, 2008
THEME: Mythology
MEDIUM: Any editionable technique
PAPER SIZE: 5.5 x 7.5 inches
14 x 19 cm
EDITION SIZE: - To be announced after the sign-up deadline
- Will be determined by the number who sign-up
(We have never had more than 40)
- If you wish to limit your participation to some
specific number, then you may do so when
you sign-up.
REAL CASH PRIZES: Thanks to an annonymous donor:
$50 first place, $25 second place
winners determined by vote
Previous exchanges may be viewed on the photos page at the SSNW group site on Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ssnw/
Prints are to be sent to the co-ordinator to arrive by February 1, 2008. The coordinator will collate the prints and mail out a package to each participant. Your coordinator for this exchange is:
Robert Simola
2755 Neal Springs Road
Templeton, California 93465
U.S.A.
To sign-up, or to obtain more information:
(1) contact: CharlesGMorgan@yahoo.com
or
(2) post a message to the ssnw listserve: ssnw@yahoogroups.com
Cheers ........ Charles
Looking for a X-Mas gift? Everybody needs a Flickr Pro Account.
http://www.flickr.com/gift/
THE EVENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!
THE Southern Summer Northern Winter 2007 solstice mini-print exchange
Sign-ups for this FABULOUS exchange are now open.
SIGN-UP DEADLINE: December 21, 2007
PRINTS DUE: February 1, 2008
THEME: Mythology
MEDIUM: Any editionable technique
PAPER SIZE: 5.5 x 7.5 inches
14 x 19 cm
EDITION SIZE: - To be announced after the sign-up deadline
- Will be determined by the number who sign-up
(We have never had more than 40)
- If you wish to limit your participation to some
specific number, then you may do so when
you sign-up.
REAL CASH PRIZES: Thanks to an annonymous donor:
$50 first place, $25 second place
winners determined by vote
Previous exchanges may be viewed on the photos page at the SSNW group site on Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ssnw/
Prints are to be sent to the co-ordinator to arrive by February 1, 2008. The coordinator will collate the prints and mail out a package to each participant. Your coordinator for this exchange is:
Robert Simola
2755 Neal Springs Road
Templeton, California 93465
U.S.A.
To sign-up, or to obtain more information:
(1) contact: CharlesGMorgan@yahoo.com
or
(2) post a message to the ssnw listserve: ssnw@yahoogroups.com
Cheers ........ Charles
Looking for a X-Mas gift? Everybody needs a Flickr Pro Account.
http://www.flickr.com/gift/
Message 6
From: L Cass
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:01:38 -0500
Subject: [Baren 34574] Re: Fw: The Spinning Silhouette
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Connie you've actually brought up an interesting aspect re composing images!
I find the spinning image fascinating - I started to count the turns
for each direction and then found the pattern kept changing and
she actually swung from side to side - I've also found that the
weight of an image (reading left to right or the reverse) seems
less problematic in prints than for paintings ( maybe because
they're generally smaller and less complicated ??)
If you look at a range of old master paintings and figurative stuff
up to Matisse and Picasso, e.g.
you'll find that compositions read mostly from left to right -
something to do with the principle of the Golden Mean. With abstraction
the 'rules' changed. When I do figurative designs for woodcuts I have
a hard time deciding which way they should read but like to go with
the instinctive way I first drew them and diligently reverse for the blocks..
this could lead us to examine colour (which doesn't exist per se)- my
painting students are intrigued by this and tell me they are
always struggling to see colour when it's dark. Also hasn't everyone
noticed that when one describes a colour to another person, one
has no idea of what they may be visualizing and tortured
conversations follow as we attempt to name colours.
hope this won't be deemed too 'off-topic' - after all we're all
concerned with composition and colour as well as technique...
cheers,
Louise C.
I find the spinning image fascinating - I started to count the turns
for each direction and then found the pattern kept changing and
she actually swung from side to side - I've also found that the
weight of an image (reading left to right or the reverse) seems
less problematic in prints than for paintings ( maybe because
they're generally smaller and less complicated ??)
If you look at a range of old master paintings and figurative stuff
up to Matisse and Picasso, e.g.
you'll find that compositions read mostly from left to right -
something to do with the principle of the Golden Mean. With abstraction
the 'rules' changed. When I do figurative designs for woodcuts I have
a hard time deciding which way they should read but like to go with
the instinctive way I first drew them and diligently reverse for the blocks..
this could lead us to examine colour (which doesn't exist per se)- my
painting students are intrigued by this and tell me they are
always struggling to see colour when it's dark. Also hasn't everyone
noticed that when one describes a colour to another person, one
has no idea of what they may be visualizing and tortured
conversations follow as we attempt to name colours.
hope this won't be deemed too 'off-topic' - after all we're all
concerned with composition and colour as well as technique...
cheers,
Louise C.
Message 7
From: Mr Dean Thompson
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 08:10:43 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34575] Etching with Electricity (was Cedric Green)
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I have been experimenting with using the Galv-etch
method described by Mr. Green. So far, I have had
some wonderful effects using Zinc. Rosin aquatints,
line work in asphaltum hard grounds, softground
textures and lithocoal washes have all yielded
excellent results. Unlike etching in Nitric, the etch
is straight down leaving very sharp detail. Almost
too sharp. The last plate that I wiped did a job on
the tarlatan.
I have begun to experiment with steel but so far
haven't had much luck. The steel that I was using has
an oxide coating of some sort on it that appears to be
impacting the results. I intend to stick with it
though. Light colors and cheap metal are too
attractive to give up on.
Dean Thompson
www.deanrussellthompson.com
Message 8
From: Charles Morgan
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 08:49:37 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 34576] Re: Etching with Electricity (was Cedric Green)
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Hello Dean,
You might want to try galvanized steel plate. It is the sort of stuff typically used for furnace duct work ... available everywhere and dirt cheap. Galvanizing is just a very thin coat of zinc. The zinc will etch, followed by the steel ... there is no chance for an oxide coating to form on the steel.
I etch aluminum and steel with just a mixture of copper sulfate (45%), table salt (45%), and sodium bisulfate (10%). Sodium bisulfate is sold for treating water in pools and hot tubs ... try the brand name Ph Down. No electricity required. Aluminum will etch in about 2-3 minutes. Steel will etch in about 30-45 minutes.
This is somewhat off the usual Baren topic (sorry everyone), so email me privately if you have questions.
Cheers ...... Charles
You might want to try galvanized steel plate. It is the sort of stuff typically used for furnace duct work ... available everywhere and dirt cheap. Galvanizing is just a very thin coat of zinc. The zinc will etch, followed by the steel ... there is no chance for an oxide coating to form on the steel.
I etch aluminum and steel with just a mixture of copper sulfate (45%), table salt (45%), and sodium bisulfate (10%). Sodium bisulfate is sold for treating water in pools and hot tubs ... try the brand name Ph Down. No electricity required. Aluminum will etch in about 2-3 minutes. Steel will etch in about 30-45 minutes.
This is somewhat off the usual Baren topic (sorry everyone), so email me privately if you have questions.
Cheers ...... Charles
Message 9
From: Ruth Leaf
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:08:19 -0800
Subject: [Baren 34577] Re: Etching with Electricity (was Cedric Green)
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Mr. Tompson, I have etched steel (mild steel) with nitric acid. The
trick is to use a 12 to one water to acid. It bites differently
than zinc. An open bite will give you texture rather than the
smooth area you would get with zinc. It also will print forever.
Ruth LLeaf
trick is to use a 12 to one water to acid. It bites differently
than zinc. An open bite will give you texture rather than the
smooth area you would get with zinc. It also will print forever.
Ruth LLeaf
Message 10
From: Misty Arnold
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 16:41:13 -0500
Subject: [Baren 34578] RE: Baren Digest (old) V41 #4128
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Wanda, thanks for replying! I'm really happy to be here.
The name of the gallery is White Lotus (downtown on Willamette St). It's a small space, but since we specialize in Asian prints there are a lot of treasures tucked away. I'm always astounded by the things I pull out of the flat files when I'm straightening up. The owners, Dick and HP, are very sweet and knowledgeable too. Definitely stop in when you're in town! I'll make Dick pull out the Hasui folders. (We're also next door to a coffee shop with tasty panini.)
I'm hoping to make it up to the Portland area to explore the galleries and museums there when I get a few days off. Are there any places in particular that you would recommend? Any mokuhanga workshops?
Thanks again for the welcome. I'm enjoying Baren (and Oregon) very much.
Misty in Eugene