Baren Digest              Friday, 7 December 2001      Volume 17 : Number 1642


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From: "Jean Eger Womack" <jeaneger@jeaneger.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 09:36:55 -0800
Subject: [Baren 16360] Re:   Baren Digest V17 #1641
Hello again,

I attended a great printmaking demonstration last night at the Presidio
Officers Club in San Francisco, sponsored by the Asian Art Museum of San
Francisco.  Our own Marco Flavio Marinucci demonstrated Japanese-style
printing.  First he gave a very informative and wide-ranging talk about
Japanese woodblock printing, including a good description of the
tourist-memento nature of Ukiyo-e prints.  (The tourists to Tokyo (Edo) were
from other parts of Japan, as well as from abroad.)   Then he printed two
blocks.  The orange block was printed three times.  The brown block was
printed twice.  He mixed the red into the brown on the block.  The
demonstration was free.  For the demonstration, the Asian museum had set up
tables in a U-shape, with spotlights on Marco.  They even had a video camera
trained on his hands.  What a production!

The exhibition of Meiji prints was a very thought-provoking exhibition
because it showed Japan at the time when Commodore Perry was introducing
Western clothing to Japan, so many of the Japanese women were dressed in
Victorian costumes.  It reminded me of the advent of the missionaries to
Hawaii, when they wanted the women to cover up and persuaded them to wear
high-neck collars and long dresses.  The Japanese women were all covered up,
but they had wasp-waists, and bustles that made them all look like they had
scoloiosis (or is it lordosis?).  You would not have been able to notice
their posture if they were covered with a kimono.   The pictures in the
exhibition contained a lot of red ink, which I thought would have faded in
the hundred-plus years since they were made.  But maybe they were kept in a
drawer somewhere.  They were printed by different artists, but the facial
features were all quite similar, with those wonderful slanting eyes that one
rarely sees in real life.  They had white skin, not yellow skin.   I think
it is a wondrous thing that we were not all created alike, but somehow we
were treated to diversity of appearance, so that artists would have somethin
g to draw, paint, and make wire sculptures of, in color.

The prints themselves were technically wonderful.  Though the light was low,
we could get close enough to the prints to really inspect them.  They
contained pictures of the emporer Meiji, his retinue, and the technology of
the era.  For example, streetcars that ran on tracks, but were pulled by
horses.  Marco was also impressed by the technical ability shown in the
prints because he commented that the prints used every hand-printmaking
technique known at the time, including mica, bokashi blend, embossing, and
multiple color blocks.  I felt a little bit like a Japanese woman of the
Meiji era because we have so many foreign-born people here teaching and
working, that we are being introduced to many wonderful new
things--including non-toxic printmaking!

Jean Eger Womack


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From: Ray Hudson <rhudson@together.net>
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 15:13:37 -0500
Subject: [Baren 16361] Kono Bairei 

At our local used clothing shop I found a framed woodcut of
chrysanthemums and taped to the back of the frame (I couldn't get inside
to the actual print without undoing the framing, which I'm reluctant to
do) was "Bairei, printed c. 1880."  The frame was nice & the price was
right ($25).  Is anyone familiar with his work?
Ray

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From: Sunnffunn@aol.com
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 16:03:24 EST
Subject: [Baren 16362] Re: Baren Digest V17 #1641 

maria
 I remember this question being posed to you once before.  It is about how 
you bring up the wood grain on the blocks.  Are you carving with the wood to 
have the grain appear or are you treating the plate in a unique manner??  Yes 
you have done some very innovative and wonderful things withyour printimaking 
and a book is needed with all your methods and advice.  You ceertainly seem 
to be a busy and energetic person, how wondeful your work is.
Marilynn

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From: ArtfulCarol@aol.com
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 17:33:00 EST
Subject: [Baren 16363] Re: Kono Bairei 

Bairie, Yes!

Just type in Bairei and Art in the Menu and click Go.   You will get a list 
of links, the first one being a gallery  Robyn Buntin in Hawaii.   Pictured 
is a bee--utiful magnolia woodcut   $165. Is tthat  yours?

Carol Lyons Irvington, NY

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From: Bobbi Chukran <bobbi.chukran@mindspring.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 17:34:11 -0500
Subject: [Baren 16364] Re: Oops! 

Wanda wrote a long time ago:
>By the way, I went to your web site to see your block prints & there
>weren't any
>up yet. Please let us all know when you add them to your site. Also, I am a
>long-time ready of "Threads" magazine. Which issue/s do you have articles in?

Hi Wanda,

I just today got some pics together of some of my collages with prints on
them.  I'll warn you, though, they're very different <G>.  I also have some
"plain old" prints that are mounted and matted on regular papers that
aren't up yet.

http://www.BobbiChukran.com/newwork2.html

My articles for Threads were written back in the 80's under the name Bobbi
A. McRae.  I also wrote a book for them called The Fabric and Fiber
Sourcebook...

Bobbi C.
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From: "Maria Arango" <maria@mariarango.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 16:19:05 -0800
Subject: [Baren 16365] RE: bringing up the grain
> maria
>  I remember this question being posed to you once before.  It is
> about how
> you bring up the wood grain on the blocks.  Are you carving with
> the wood to
> have the grain appear or are you treating the plate in a unique
> manner??

Marilynn,
It really depends on the degree of wood grain that I want in the final
print. I'm sure there are a hundred ways to do this, but this is what I do.
Keeping in mind that I use almost exclusively solid cherry that has been
planed smooth, not sanded...

- -To get a subtle grain on specific areas of the block, I brush softly with a
wire brush following the grain.
Alternatively, wash the whole block with something that evaporates fast (I
use acetone or lacquer thinner or paint thinner but I'm sure there is a
friendlier alternative) and let the block dry. I live in single digit
humidity, so this method works very well here but may not in Oregon. You may
have to experiment until you achieve a grainy feel.
Letting the block dry outside on its own in the summer here works very well
also, as does using plain water with the above method.
With any of these, the block might warp if it dries slowly, but not down
'eere and not with 3/4" cherry.

- -To get a more aggressive grain pattern such as the blocks recently shown,
you can use an etching needle or similar tool and scratch the soft rings,
leaving the tighter more dense rings. I also just carve the grain following
its inherent beauty with 1mm V-chisel or larger depending on effect desired.
That is the method I used for both figurative blocks. The advantage of this
last method is that you can "make up" grain effects such as knots where they
don't exist.

- -To _print_ very subtle grain, I roll a very thin layer of ink and use a
hard tympan (plexiglass). I print as I would an engraving, with stiffer ink
and harder roller.

To answer Georga, I print alternatively with an etching press and by hand.
The press bed is 24" x 36" but usable area is only 23" x 35", so my larger
blocks are all done by hand. I many times also print engravings by hand to
achieve more control. When I get rich I will buy a relief press. A very big
relief press.

Pricing prints is a weird exercise. I don't take into account how long it
takes or the virtues (as judged by me) of the piece, but do take into
account the number in the edition, size of the print, price of the frame,
color vs. not color. I try to strike a balance between what the market will
bear and what I will bear. If I sell a print and I'm happy with what I get
then I know I have the right price for that print.
When you are out in public, consistency is also important. Place two 16" x
20"'s side by side, one costs more than the other and your audience will
undoubtedly ask you why. Make sure you can answer to their and your
satisfaction (6 plates vs. 1 plate, engraving vs. woodcut, etc).
Be happy with what you get and don't listen to anyone about the matter,
invariably I get opposing comments from different people in the same place
on the same day: comment1 "you are giving your work away"; comment2 "your
stuff is too expensive."
The most important thing is that you be happy with what you get and, if that
is your goal, that you sell enough to reach whatever goals you set.

Maria

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Maria Arango
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
http://www.1000woodcuts.com
maria@mariarango.com
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>



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From: Graham <gscholes@shaw.ca>
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 22:40:46 -0800
Subject: [Baren 16366] bringing up the grain 

Maria wrote.....
>It really depends on the degree of wood grain that I want in the final
>print. I'm sure there are a hundred ways to do this, but this is what I do.
>Keeping in mind that I use almost exclusively solid cherry that has been
>planed smooth, not sanded...
 
 It should be pointed out that different woods give different results.
The most exaggerated grain is achieved with in Canadian Fir  (It
is much better than the fir in Washington and Oregon....(<;
Basswood is so so. Cedar and (pine somewhat) is good but very stringy to carve.
Birch and Maple are good but very tough and require strong arms/wrist
and wire brushes.

>-To get a subtle grain on specific areas of the block, I brush softly with a
>wire brush following the grain.

There are degrees of toughness in the wirebrush business. You almost
have to experiment. The tougher the wood the tougher the brush unless of course
you are looking for a very subtle texture. For the most subtle texture
a BBQ wire brush is best with soft woods.   You get the idea....

My first choice is sandblasting.... take it down to the corner shop and
ask him to give it a 30 second blast .... look at it and then get another
30 seconds  The harder the wood the longer the time.... $10 and I'm in
business.   Seem like cheating doesn't it,
but that OK .... it is the time in my life. (Opps that darn hallo)

>With any of these, the block might warp if it dries slowly,

Wet both sides and stand the board on its end (grain) with air space
on both sides and it won't warp as both side dry equally.  Equally
is the operative word.  You should alway dry plates or board
in this way after Hanga printing.

>-To _print_ very subtle grain, I roll a very thin layer of ink and use a
>hard tympan (plexiglass). I print as I would an engraving, with stiffer ink
>and harder roller.

ah yes but that for you oily greasy kids stuff. 
For the wet behind the ear Hanga folks the amount of ink and paste is
important to assure the texture survives and remain consistent.
It is much harder to achieve when brushing on waterbase pigment.

I think the pretty well covers it....

Graham


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End of Baren Digest V17 #1642
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