Baren Digest              Monday, 11 December 2000      Volume 13 : Number 1241


----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: barbara patera <b.patera@worldnet.att.net>
Date: Sat, 09 Dec 100 22:43:56 Pacific Daylight Time
Subject: [Baren 12418] Touching up ink 

Eli,
I've occasionally had to touch up some of my prints and have found that a Q-tip
works well. These are especially 
good for touching up small imperfection because you can reduce the size by taking
cotton off the swab. I also 
have fashioned a small square stamp of that eraser stuff for any touch up along
the edge of a print. Both work 
well with oil based ink.

Barbara P.

------------------------------

From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 02:32:53 -0600
Subject: [Baren 12419] Re: Snakes online..... 

I put something up quick and dirty that should look somewhat familiar but
that still needs details (titles, technique, etc...),
but I think it will do for now as these little beasties snake into my home.
 It will also allow me to use it to keep track and notify
artists of new arrivals... Just click on the names highlighted....

http://www.skokienet.org/bandits/jcrstuff/snakes/


Xanks.......Julio

------------------------------

From: Gerald Soworka <chockings@dingoblue.net.au>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 19:54:52 +1100
Subject: [Baren 12420] Re: cleaning up 

> jerelee wrote:
>
>> I've never printed oil based inks on wood, only linoleum. How do I clean
>> the
>> wood afterwards?
>
Just use vegetable oil to clean off the ink while it is wet - totally safe and
non-toxic. If you want to remove the slight oily residue from the wood plate
you can use any detergent or surface spray cleaner to do the final clean.

Gerald

- --


------------------------------

From: Lawrence <vurt1@optushome.com.au>
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 00:23:32 +1100
Subject: [Baren 12421] Re: oil relief tips 

Touching up (I no longer do it as the prints are supposed to be what they 
are, but when I did) I used to use the the same ink I printed with and a 
nice sable brush, thin the ink with anything that would evaporate out of it 
and not seep into the paper (often minute amounts of gum turps). Apply with 
sable brush in very small amounts. Test on the paper first to make sure the 
mix is ok.

Hope that this is of use.


At 08:35  9/12/00 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi there:
>
>Does anyone out there have any tips dealing with 'touching up' woodcut oil
>prints?  I am using black relief ink, and would like to touch up small areas

------------------------------

From: Cucamongie@aol.com
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 09:08:39 EST
Subject: [Baren 12422] inks for hanga 

Hi folks! Mike, you'd get a lot more mileage out of your colors if you were 
to use pure pigments mixed w/a little gum arabic & glycerin instead of the 
watercolor from tubes, you can get these pigments from Guerra or Kremer here 
in NYC, I'm not sure if they deliver but they probably do.  AkuaKolor, a 
waterbased printing ink (http://www.waterbasedinks.com, I think??), also 
works great for hanga as well as for monoprints and some other types of 
printing-
just my 2cents
Sarah

------------------------------

From: GWohlken <blueman@pantek.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 09:08:03 -0500
Subject: [Baren 12423] Re: Baren Digest V13 #1240-- Re:Dan Wasserman's Website 

Wanda, thanks for finding Dan Wasserman's original website.  I had lost
it and it has valuable information for color mixing.  Some of what he is
talking about pertains to a project I am working on now--two oil
portraits to be completed before Christmas.  It was great reviewing how
to mix colors without changing the character of them when adding white
since white will automatically cool a color.  I had been doing the right
thing, after all, but it was good to hear the technical end of it from
him.  

Gayle

------------------------------

From: <marc@marchdesign>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 09:56:20 -0500
Subject: [Baren 12424] Intro and a question 

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this group and to the art. To that end, I'd like to introduce 
myself and ask a very basic question.

My name is Marc Hudgins, I live in Freeland, Maryland, USA (north of 
Baltimore if you're interested in precision) with my wife Chrissy and my 
3 month old daughter Sydney ( and a herd of cats and dogs to boot!). 
I've been a professional artist for the last 10 years. I started out in 
commercial animation (TV mostly) and then moved on to the PC gaming 
industry about 8 years ago.It's not print oriented yet, but if your 
curious, my website www.marchdesign.com has a good sample of my artwork 
for the game industry.

I've been pretty thoroughly obsessed with both Japanese and turn of the 
century art ( Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts Movement) for a good 
number of years and finally have succumbed to what I see as the 
inevitable -woodblock printing. I am just starting on my first print ( I 
plan on getting carving this afternoon in fact). As a complete and utter 
newbie, I'm sure to have plenty of really basic questions, but I hope 
over time that I'll be up to speed with the rest of you.

Now for my basic question (thanks to David for his input already):

When pasting down the hanshita, I'm getting a lot of puckering of the 
paper (it expands and wrinkles as it absorbs the adhesive). It doesn't 
matter if I use flour paste or gum arabic -it just puckers away! It 
usually takes me a few attempts to get a sheet down cleanly ( I have yet 
to divine what magic combination of conditions allows me to get it right 
some of the time) Now, I am using plain old printer paper to do this. I 
suspect that might have something to do with it, but at the same time, 
I've read that this was a perfectly fine material to use. Any ideas?

Marc

------------------------------

From: James G Mundie <jimandkatemundie@juno.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 12:07:16 -0500
Subject: [Baren 12425] oil touch ups 

Eli wrote:

> Does anyone out there have any tips dealing with 'touching up' woodcut
oil
> prints?  I am using black relief ink, and would like to touch up small
areas
> where the black is not quite all there.  I had thought of trying a
> tortillion with a bit of ink on it, but before I do anything, I'd like
to
> hear from more experienced printers.

I have on occasion, due to my style of cutting and the type of wood I
use, needed to go back into a print to correct a minor glitch.  Usually
this is due to losing a tiny chip along the course of printing an edition
and needing to go back into the later prints to correct the missing
piece.  However, I will not "mend" a large and obvious piece 'in the
print'. I would rather stop printing and try to mend the block itself.  I
restrict my occasional repairs to minor and otherwise unnoticeable areas
that are too small to merit a major patch in the block.

I have attempted in the past to use the stumping method you suggested
above, but the effect is rather less than satisfactory.  The repair
applied will a tortillion looks clumsy, obvious and texturally different
from the surrounding area.  The reason for this is that one is applying
ink onto the surface of previously printed ink, and in quantities greater
and lumpier than what already exists.

My chosen method is to use one of my favorite pens -- the black Pigma
Micron technical pens made by the Japanese company Sakura.  I have
hundreds of these on hand as they are what I use for my drawings. The
nibs come in a variety of sizes, and the ink is a true black micro
pigment ink that is waterproof, fadeproof and archival.  What more could
one want?  Using a light hand and the appropriate sized nib, one can a
achieve a nearly invisible repair, providing the area of the patch is
small.



> Tips for minimising small points of ink, in the wrong areas, are also
welcome.

As to removing unwanted blotches of ink, that is really a carving
problem.  I would recommend that you keep a gouge handy during proofing
and printing to cut away the offending area.  Even still, you may find
that in the course of an edition the brayer deposits little piles of ink
in non-printing areas.  This can be solved by having some sort of rag or
paper towel on hand to wipe these areas just prior to each printing.  You
don't need to use solvents; just wipe it back so that the area is mostly
"dry".  I often crowd several images together onto a single large block,
so that in the course of inking one image, I 'dirty' the image next to
it, which is where the border of my paper will fall.  A handy rag solves
the problem, and as long as I don't apply any pressure in the margin, the
residue will not transfer to the paper.

Happy printing,
James Mundie, Philadelphia USA
http://www.missioncreep.com/mundie/index.htm

------------------------------

From: "kate courchaine" <katecourchaine@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 17:37:48 
Subject: [Baren 12426] Re: oil relief tips 

Ellie Wrote;

>'Does anyone out there have any tips dealing with 'touching up' woodcut oil
>prints?  I am using black relief ink, and would like to touch up small 
>areas'

Here's what I do:

While printing-if an area of a print may not be printing well, peel up that 
part of the print from the block, carefully leaving the rest of the paper in 
position and check it.  If the print isn't fully printed, then either lay 
the paper back down and apply more pressure to the area by pressing it with 
a burnisher (bamboo rice spoon or baren), or if it looks like the area is 
short of ink, then lift the corner once, and carefully roll some more ink 
onto the afflicted area of the block, and reprint.  The paper left in 
pressed contact with the block keeps the paper in perfect registration.

For small missed spots- use a stiff bristle brush to brush on the small 
amounts of the same printing ink, if the paper fiber stands up from this 
treatment, then lay glassine over it and gently burnish the paper fiber 
flat.  Careful not to bruise the paper.


Best Wishes
Kate Courchaine


_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

------------------------------

From: B Mason <bemason@concentric.net>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 09:40:20 -0800
Subject: [Baren 12427] ink in bad places 

Eli,
I have used plastic packaging tape on borders around areas I did not
want ink on, then it wipes clean as a whistle with no effort. You don't
need any solvents.
Barbara

------------------------------

From: Vollmer/Yamaguchi <jy6@columbia.edu>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 13:22:03 -0400
Subject: [Baren 12428] Re: Baren Digest V13 #1240 

Barbara Hearn, are you there? No, Bea, I havn't heard from her! Where can
she be?

Anyway, I don't know of another place for ball bearing barens...has anyone
gotten good translations of Woodlike Matsum***a-san's website? Perhaps he
offers them? Last time I priced McClain's they were $270.

Thank you Mike, for the description of the difference between
oil-base-imitation waterbase printing, and 'real' waterbase printing,
Japanese style. I appreciate your describing me as 'knowledgable and
articulate' but right now I don't have the energy to explain the
distinction myself!

I was sorry to read that Graham will no longer participate, he was very
helpful with technical info. And jokes! Hope we will continue to get
reoprts of his goings on from the Boot Campers.


April Vollmer
174 Eldridge St, NYC 10002, 212-677-5691
http://www.aprilvollmer.com

------------------------------

From: Jim Bryant <Jim.Bryant@enmu.edu>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 14:42:54 -0700
Subject: [Baren 12429] Re: cleaning up 

Jerlee,

I have tried many different clean-ups of oil from my woodblocks. If i 
think that i want to use the block again, i don't use anything to 
clean up. I print the block on newsprint until no more ink will come 
off, then i rub the block down with dry newsprint. In my experience 
it is the only way to completely preserve the block.

jim-

>I've never printed oil based inks on wood, only linoleum. How do I clean the
>wood afterwards?
>Jerelee

------------------------------

From: Studio Dalwood <severn@acay.com.au>
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 20:56:57 +1100
Subject: [Baren 12430] Oil Relief tips 

Eli asked
"Does anyone out there have any tips dealing with 'touching
up'
woodcut oil
prints?  I am using black relief ink, and would like to
touch up
small areas
where the black is not quite all there."

Hi Eli, I'm amsuming here that you are not wanting to
correct those beautiful variations of the handmade that
distinquish them from the mechanical. 

One of the beauties of oil based ink is its resistance to
water based media. Thus you can print in oil and colour with
waterbased inks without any fear of disturbing the print.
FOr those instances when I dont want to throw away a print
because of a need for a minor correction I use black drawing
ink and a fine brush. 

I also discovered to my surprise that minor smudges of
unwanted ink in the margins can be removed with putty
rubber. 

Anything not fixable by these two methods gets re-pulped and
turned into handmade paper.  Speaking of which, I joined in
a paper exchange through the e-groups papermaking group
recently. I recieved a package of 113 paper samples with
instructions of what they were made from. Very exciting and
inspiring and I highly recommend that all of you recycle
your good paper scraps this way.

I might also mention that I habitually print a few extra to
the edition so that I have the choice of eliminating the
poorer quality ones of the batch so that the edition is as
consistant as possible. The spares get worked into or given
away etc. Much better than having an edition that doesnt cut
the mustard.

You can handcolour over oil based inks very successfully.
Try doing monoprints off the inked glass before you clean up
after doing your relief printing.  (I'm talking here of the
method where you lay the paper face down on the inked glass
slab and then draw on the back of the sheet so that it lifts
the ink onto the paper.) Then when they are dry, use some
good quality coloured inks to overlay the textured areas of
the monoprint. I use coloured inks because of the beauty of
their transparency, like coloured glass. You can do this
over textured areas of relief prints too.

Another hand colouring idea is to colour from the rear of
the print, where the paper is thin and translucent. This
gives subtle tints of colour through the print.

Doing the 'where i live' prints the other week I used both
speedball ink and graphic chemical ink. I started using the
speedball as it dries overnight and I was in a hurry, but
turned back to graphic chemical as the speedball ink just 
isn't anywhere near as good to use. Mainly poorer coverage
and a pain in the proverbial by comparison. Funnily enough
the prints dried faster than usual anyway.

Still thinking about my snake design.

Hope this helps
Josephine

------------------------------

From: Carolyn Pflederer <pfledere@northnet.net>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 20:33:25 -0600
Subject: [Baren 12431] Question for Josephine Severn...and any others 

Josephine...I was just at your site and loved the wildflower prints!
How do you do the hand coloring on the ones like the kangaroo paw print
and the wildflower ones?  So much to learn...so little time,
Carolyn

------------------------------

From: Sunnffunn@aol.com
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 21:33:40 EST
Subject: [Baren 12432] Re: Touching up ink 

they sell small rubber tipped makeup applicators about the size of a q-tip 
that is a sponge, that will work well also to touch up a print.

------------------------------

From: "Bea Gold" <bnj50@earthlink.net>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 21:42:36 -0800
Subject: [Baren 12433] Re: inks for hanga 

Hi Sarah,  I have been using the large (37 ML.) Da Vinci water colors very
happily for a couple of years.  I used it with rice paste and gum arabic for
hanga and straight color for Chinese prints.  My colors are pretty rich.  I
like having the variety of colors and the large tubes make me feel like I
can be generous.  I don't have any complaints but would like to try the
AkuaKolor because both you and April sounded so impressed.  How and why do
you use glycerin?   I know it's supposed to keep colors wet longer.  Is that
why?
Bea Gold
bnj50@earthlink.net
http://www.beagold.com/
Los Angeles, California

------------------------------

End of Baren Digest V13 #1241
*****************************