Baren Digest             Wednesday, 5 February 2003     Volume 22 : Number 2119


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From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 18:11:39 -0600
Subject: [Baren 20638] Re: Rebecca's book 


Hi Dean, is this the book that has woodblock prints from many bareners ?

Rebecca Salter's book Japanese Woodblock Printing (GCI product 70710 -$17.00) 

I been looking for a copy...I'll put an order thru your website 
tomorrow....

thanks...Julio 

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From: Cucamongie#aol.com
Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2003 19:58:39 -0500
Subject: [Baren 20639] hanga and scams (not together though)! 

Hi all - thanks Louise and Maria for your thoughts and advice on
the marketing email which I received, I really appreciate it. Of
course I can't resist my 2 cents in the pigment/paste discussion.
Ignasi, if you're getting too much texture, sounds like you
probably have too much water in your pigment and adding some rice
paste will help.  Mixing on the block should work better for you
than pre-mixing as you will have to do some experimentation to
achieve the right mixture of pigment/water/paste.  There's also
the consideration of how wet your paper is.  The paper should be
like a damp sponge - damp but not dripping wet.  You might try
dampening some smaller scraps of paper and just experimenting
with printing a small section of the block to get the mixture of
ingredients right.  Again, the Baren Encyclopedia is FILLED with
great info. best of luck to you!
Sarah

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From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 18:56:21 -0600
Subject: [Baren 20640] Re: Can this be ? Yet another Baren project .... 

 Sorry for the multiple posts today, I must be playing catchup for 
the time out....anyju...

I been trying to get a project off the ground for a couple of years now 
but it never seem like the right time.  We have Maria's puzzle project in 
the carving stages w printing to occur later in the fall.....there is also 
Sharri's and Rudolph's LPE2
scheduled for sometime in 2003-4 ?

I thought perhaps if there was interest from the membership we could have 
a window of opportunity to get my project done somewhere in between.....I 
am talking about making a Barenforum calendar printed by participating 
baren artists. Over in Japan they make blank calendar sheets with the 
dates/days preprinted....they have a blank area on the top for you to 
print your own image.....they are sold by the month in large stacks and 
are very popular with printmaking groups.
These would be woodblock, lino, engraving as per our rules...but you could 
do oily or hanga or a bit of both. Size would be limited by the 
pre-printed forms available. 

See these photos from Dave's website: 
http://woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/017_05/017_05_frame.html

 My idea would involve taking on participants, ordering and redistributing 
the pre-printed sheets here on the US....and then collating the separate 
months into calendars.

A calendar is something that can be displayed year around, is something 
also that can be given away to family and friends,,,,and if made out of 
original hand-printed art work...a little treasure to keep forever.

We probably would not want to limit to just twelve members (each person 
prints a specific month) so we could probably just have an open-ended list 
of participants....you signup...ask for a month or we assign the month at 
random...each particpant gets maybe 20,30,50 ? sheets to print....then we 
get them back ala Maria's puzzle project...and we put the calendars 
together.

Each participant can get back a few copies for their trouble and the rest 
of the calendars can be made available for sale at the BarenMall to 
benefit Baren......

I think the pre-printed forms (minimal costs) are available in 
May-June...perhaps earlier....we could probably have them here in late 
spring, carving and printing to be done during the summer/fall....and the 
finished months sent back to me by November and returned to you by 
/December....?????

Suggestions ? ideas ? are you interested ?  any problems I missed ? Please 
check the lovely prints on Dave's website.

Open for discussion.......... {;-)

thanks..Julio Rodriguez



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From: Aqua4tis#aol.com
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 20:30:17 EST
Subject: [Baren 20641] Re: Can this be ? Yet another Baren project .... 


julio
   im interested!!!
georga




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From: "April Vollmer" <april#aprilvollmer.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 23:03:57 -0500
Subject: [Baren 20642] Lending Ears 

"Especially in times of crisis and political friction, it is vital to lend
an ear to artist from home and abroad."

Michael Schneider, as usual, is very articulate! I only hope the upcoming
events in Iraq don't prevent my own travel to Berlin to give a hanga class
this March. We shall see...I hope this is not another case where oil
triumphs over waterbase! ;-) (I know, what a thing to joke about!)

Dean, I was impressed to hear you carry Rebecca's book. It is great to have
a modestly priced book IN PRINT on this subject! I'd love to be able to
recommend Yoshida, but it's just not around!

"Rebecca Salter's book Japanese Woodblock Printing (GCI product
70710 -$17.00)
is a great book, and one that I would recommend to most printmakers involved
in relief work."

April
www.aprilvollmer.com


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From: Sharri LaPierre <Barebonesart#attbi.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 21:10:21 -0800
Subject: [Baren 20643] Re: Baren Digest V22 #2117 


for cleaning plates use plain cooking oil and then
take the last oily residue off with white
spirit/turps.

Try the using rubbing alcohol for the final wipe-up when cleaning your 
plates - it is much safer than turps or mineral spirits, and will do the 
job very effectively and efficiently.  It is also economical - watch for 
it on sale at the local super market or drug store and purchase several 
bottles at once.  I use the top from a dishwashing detergent bottle on 
the bottle of alcohol - the push, pull, squirt method.  Works like a 
charm!

Sharri




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From: "kate courchaine" <katecourchaine#hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 06:12:28 +0000
Subject: [Baren 20644] Re: Baren Digest V22 #2117 

Preserving lino blocks

In response to Ray's question about how to preserve degrading lino blocks - 
They can be cast in metal and printed quite a bit more.  I know a person 
that does this and also prints small edition books with these kind of 
plates.

Looking forward to seeing exchange #15, and welcome to new bareners!

Kate Courchaine




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From: "Maria Diener (aka Arango)" <maria#mariarango.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Feb 2003 22:14:21 -0800
Subject: [Baren 20645] Re: Baren Digest V22 #2117 


Also for general try non-ammonia window cleaner or home-made glass cleaner
(water and white vinegar) as a last spiffier upper. And for a wonderful
cleaner/ that will last all year, don't throw away that spent bottle of dish
washing detergent just yet, fill it with water instead and you have a wonder
degreaser that needs no rinsing. Works on your hands too. After the refilled
water is gone, try it once more; then recycle.
M
<||><||><||><||><||><||>
     Maria Arango
  Las Vegas Nevada USA
  www.1000woodcuts.com
<||><||><||><||><||><||>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: owner-baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp
>[mailto:owner-baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp]On Behalf Of Sharri LaPierre
>  Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 9:10 PM
>  To: baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp
>  Subject: [Baren 20643] Re: Baren Digest V22 #2117
>
>
>  for cleaning plates use plain cooking oil and then
>  take the last oily residue off with white
>  spirit/turps.
>
>  Try the using rubbing alcohol for the final wipe-up when cleaning your
>plates - it is much safer than turps or mineral spirits, and will do the job
>very effectively and efficiently. It is also economical - watch for it on
>sale at the local super market or drug store and purchase several bottles at
>once. I use the top from a dishwashing detergent bottle on the bottle of
>alcohol - the push, pull, squirt method. Works like a charm!
>
>  Sharri
>


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From: Charles Morgan <cmorgan#uvic.ca>
Date: Tue, 04 Feb 2003 23:28:12 -0800
Subject: [Baren 20646] Re: Water-based paint 



>A bowl of pigment (specially if it has a little alcohol mix in there) will 
>last for a very long time and can be continued to be used during the many 
>days a printing session runs. But once you combine the paste and the 
>pigment you have put a death sentence on that bowl of pigment. The paste 
>is only good for a day or so and it almost always starts to 
>harden/solidify/whatever...making it very hard to control...also I try not 
>to get too much paste on my good brushes....I always make fresh paste 
>since it takes only a couple of minutes to boil a tablespoon of flour in a 
>pot of water.


This is just not true ... I have no idea where this got started. I have 
kept a small tea bowl with rice paste and pigment mixed sitting on my 
studio table for more than two weeks and nary a sign of mold. Consider that 
many of your pigments are poisons and will kill any mold. Also consider 
that your pigment dispersion is most likely in alcohol ... else it too 
would be getting moldy. I have been using the rice paste that comes from 
Japan in those big green tubes. It probably has some anti-fungal agent in 
it, because it sure does not mold on its own. If you are worried, mix in a 
little alcohol with your pigment/paste. Someone else suggested a few drops 
of formalin, but I have found that hard to find. If you get really 
desperate, put your paste/pigment in the fridge or in the freezer.

You know, I used to try to do traditional Chinese brush painting. I once 
bought some water color blocks from China, supposedly used by professional 
artists. After use, you had to leave the lids off the containers, or that 
stuff would grow mold and tiny mushrooms. I suspect the paints were 
concocted from vegetable matter. So, if your pigments are all vegetable 
sources, you might have a problem with the premix method. But such pigments 
are certainly not going to be very light fast, and you probably would not 
want to use them anyway. And you could always add a bit of alcohol to solve 
the problem.

When not in use, I cover the tea bowls with plastic wrap. That prevents 
most evaporation, just as it does with your pigment dispersions. The 
mixture remains quite fluid. Before use, I check the consistency and add a 
little water if necessary.

Besides, it is not as though you are going to mix up a whole gallon of the 
stuff. Of course you mix only what you are going to need in the short term. 
We are talking about a few tablespoons full. Even if it did go bad, it 
would not be a great loss. Your pigment/paste mix will be mostly paste ... 
does not take much pigment.



>Re control....unvariably..somewhere along your printing run ( if you are 
>doing more than 10-15 prints) ...the block/brush/paste/pigment balance 
>will go a little off....you will notice the block a little 
>runny/sticky......whatever...a way around this is to not add paste for a 
>sheet or two to let the block/mixing-brush balance itself out. I have some 
>video where the japanese printer skips the paste every other sheet...


Well, I have never found this to be a problem with the premix method. I can 
control very well the thickness of the mixture just by adding a small bit 
of water. I try to be sure that the pigment/paste mixture is on the thin 
side before I start printing. I have NEVER had a paste build-up on the 
block using this method, not ever. Having said that, I do not make runs of 
more than 15 or 20 at a time, just because I find it too tiring, my mind 
wanders, etc. I print another 15 or so the next day, or some time in the 
next couple of days, or the next week ... and so on until I have the 
edition finished. Although I only print 15 or so at a time, I often print a 
color two or three times to get even coverage. And I repeat, I have never 
had a paste build up.

I just rinse the block off after a run and set it aside while I do the next 
color. For each batch, I start out with two sheets of newsprint just to 
"condition" the block.

I think you are MUCH more likely to get paste build up on the block if you 
follow the traditional technique. You have that thick shoe brush gizmo 
loaded with paste and pigment, and you keep adding more paste directly to 
the block and then scrubbing it with that big brush. That shoe brush is BIG 
and carries a lot of paste. No wonder you get a big build up on the block 
after a while.

My little foam "brush" has very little paste/pigment in it, and most of it 
gets deposited on the block each inking. I easily control how much 
paste/pigment it carries by carful dipping and gently wiping on the edge of 
the container. If it ever did get "full" of paste/pigment, I could just 
rinse it out under the tap and dry it by squeezing it with a paper towel 
... but I have never had to. And when I print, almost all of the 
pigment/paste mixture goes into the paper. There just isn't anything left 
on the block to build up.

There is nothing mystical about the traditional way of doing hanga. The 
traditional methods obviously produce excellent results in the right hands. 
That does not mean that variations on the traditional methods would not 
produce just as good results. I dare say that very few bareners transfer 
designs to the blocks using the traditional technique. And I dare say that 
few do their printing sitting on the floor, as is the traditional technique.

Think about it this way ... when you use oil based inks, you do not put 
dollops of  pigment and dollops of plain linseed oil on the block and then 
scrub around with a big brush to mix them and smooth the mixture out on the 
block. You use premixed pigment/oil ... and you carefully apply it with a 
roller to the block. Perhaps it might be useful to try a similar approach 
to hanga.

Once again ... different strokes for different folks ... If you like doing 
dollops of paste and dollops of pigment and scrubbing with the big brush to 
mix and smear things around, then by all means do it. I have done it, and I 
do not like it. I find this technique works for me. I suggest those who are 
not happy with the other method might find the premix method easier.

Cheers ......... Charles

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From: "Ignasi Serrahima" <iserrahima#hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 09:54:46 +0100
Subject: [Baren 20647] Re: Water-based paint 

Dear friends,

Thanks to all of you who responded with your advice to my question. It 
really is a matter of finding what suits me better, I guess, and there's 
only one way of finding out: experimenting! I'm short of experience, and 
that may be my main problem. Anyway, I already got myself some rice flour to 
test with the different possibilities you guys suggested, see how it goes...

Regards,
Ignasi


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End of Baren Digest V22 #2119
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