Baren Digest Monday, 9 June 2003 Volume 23 : Number 2254 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John and Jan Telfer Date: Mon, 9 Jun 03 00:03:57 +0800 Subject: [Baren 21741] Re: Commercial Printing Inks Philip, >Inks, well oil based inks at any rate,...has anyone >tried commercial printing inks? Yes, Philip I use locally made Coates Australia Commercial printing inks and can get a car bootload of colours that aren't serialised....sets of or listed chronologically on the Pantone colour chart in other words odd colours ... a boot load last time cost me $10Aust. I am still working my way through it! To get the tone I need I sometimes add tube Graphic Chemical inks or what I think is the Japanese Equivalent, Sakura which I have a little left in basic colours. They all work well, on their own or mixed, roll up extremely well without having to add any plate oils or extender with them. A couple of colours that I inherited from a printer have already got some transparency in them and I have a black, pink/red and a blue already mixed with a transparency extender. For woodblock printing I find that the finer you roll the ink, the better the coverage, so when you roll up the ink on the glass or perspex rolling board it shouldn't sound like you are driving through a patch of mud that is sticking to the tyres, but more like a fine zipper. If it sounds like mud, scrape some of the ink off the rolling board and spread the ink further to thin it out before rolling it onto your carved block. You can roll it over the block several times with the thinner ink travelling in different directions to get a good coverage so that the block coverage looks like shiney glass rather than put too much on the first time and it looks like tacky raindrops. Hope you understand my picture imagery.... I am used to teaching kids!! Cheers, Jan ------------------------------ From: Jsf73#aol.com Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 11:58:47 EDT Subject: [Baren 21742] Re: about the summit...ride from airport saturday Hi Aimee (and all the summiteers), I would be happy to pick you up from the airport. I am not 100% sure what time I will arrive yet, as I am driving in so it is hard to be totally accurate. I will endeavour to be there as early as possible though. I will post to the entire list again to see if anyone else is arriving mid afternoon (2:00p.m.) and would like a ride too. Just send me your flight information and such so I will know where to look for you. I will try to have a sign made up so people can identify me when I get to the airport. John Furr ------------------------------ From: John and Jan Telfer Date: Mon, 9 Jun 03 00:24:35 +0800 Subject: [Baren 21743] Re: Barren Summit Baren Summit, To all those travelling to the Summit I wish you a safe journey and wish I could be joining you. Three years in a row to America from Perth in Western Australia is a bit "much" but I will be there in spirit and will be looking forward to seeing some pictures. Please make a date for the next one so that I can book my plane ticket in advance. Green with envy on the other side of the world! Jan ------------------------------ From: "marilynn smih" Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2003 09:28:59 -0700 Subject: [Baren 21744] Re: Baren Digest V23 #2253 Being fairly new to this wood carving stuff I am wondering about the 2 trees we have removed from our yard. One is holly the other is alder. there are possibilities of some nice end grain pieces. I remember that some of you carve end grain and for certain reasons like it. Is there a special way i should treat these pieces of wood and what are the ins and outs of carving end grain slabs??? Are they good for specific types of designs or just different to carve? Still thinking on how to pack everything for this summit adventure, lots of stuff to bring and if I have room maybe i will pack in a slab of this end grain. Marilynn Smith ------------------------------ From: GraphChem#aol.com Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 14:07:09 EDT Subject: [Baren 21745] Re: inks I'm coming into the conversation late, and haven't read all of the comments, but the single most important thing to remember about commercial inks vs. those formulated for printmaking is the archival quality. Commercial inks may be "commercial permanent" which means that they are good for 120 days in full light conditions. Some inks, and the emphasis is on "some" are more permanent - but you have to be careful. Graphic, Gamblin and Charbonnel are all using permanent materials (in the full dictionary definition of permanent). Dean Clark ------------------------------ From: GraphChem#aol.com Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 14:09:04 EDT Subject: [Baren 21746] Re: inky stuff Sarah - I think you are looking for the Graphic Chemical Gelled Varnish. Dean Clark ------------------------------ From: pulpfic#sunshinecable.com Date: Sun, 08 Jun 2003 14:10:20 -0700 Subject: [Baren 21747] inks Hi Philip and others, In reply to your question about commercial printing inks, I'd like to remind you of posters you may occasionally see in store windows, with that bluish look to them after they've been there for a relatively short while. Even if commercial printing inks (letterpress or offset - all the same stuff) say they are Permanent, what that means is permanent For the Expected Use, which is usually not all that long-lived - think of newsletters you receive in the mail, flyers, and those travel posters and such. The red and the yellow pigments are the most fugitive, which is why the posters will have blue overall tones to them, although the blues fade as well. Black is likely to be more stable, especially if it's a carbon-based pigment. Most browns and greens will be made up of various pigments, which include the fugitive reds and yellows, and will change in colour as the components fade. I use these inks to print type matter such as in books, as books spend much time closed (away from light), but I would not trust them for works of art which will be displayed in any significant amount of light. Take care, Randi - -- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ms Randi DeLisle papermaker, bookbinder, publisher, printmaker & gourd artist pulp fictions & pulp fictions press Grand Forks BC Canada pulpfic#sunshinecable.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ------------------------------ From: Chromoxylo#aol.com Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 23:35:24 EDT Subject: [Baren 21748] Re: inks Any permanence in printing inks, oil paints or watercolors is determined by the pigment used rather than the vehicle (or additives) which make the pigment work in whatever medium. Any pigment (except black) will eventually fade away to nothing if exposed to bright light for a long enough time. Some pigments are prone to fading and are called fugitive - most pigments are sold with a 1 thru 4 grading system, 1 being best. The pigments are graded accordingly industry wide and are quite consistant. For artwork that is kept indoors away from direct sunlight, the fading will be slower but still happens over a period of time. Yoshida Hiroshi never considered a print quite done until it had time to fade to soften the color. Almost every commercial ink company strives to use the best materials in their inks (the formulas are closely guarded trade secrets) but commercial inks are formulated for different purposes, ie. letterpress, highspeed offset, stone lithography, etching, etc... Buy inks that are appropriate to what kind of printing you are doing or you will have problems. Also, pigment suspended in water is generally called paint (watercolor) which is traditionally used for moku hanga and I heartily second whomever suggested using sumi for blacks. You won't get the intense black that you would from an oil based inks (without repeated printings) but the softness of color and variety of grays can be quite beautiful on its own. Paul Ritscher ------------------------------ From: FurryPressII#aol.com Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 05:50:49 EDT Subject: [Baren 21749] Re: inks i second paul remarks. but i like black blacks. In thinking how long our prints will last (besides being tossed by unappricated wifes, husbands or kids) we have left out of the descusion what kind of paper we are printing on. Openning up another can of worms. How archival is the paper? What is the ph. level? Is there any wood pulp in the paper and if so how much? Some Japanese paper has wood pulp in it as well. duke of oil (oil based ink that is) John Center ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V23 #2254 *****************************