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Message 1
From: Barbara Mason
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:50:30 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43988] Re: MDF as tympan in relief work?
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For litho tympan you should use polycarbonate or SAN
I use a piece of Mat board for relief
My best
Barbara

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Message 2
From: "Maria Arango Diener"
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:26:40 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43989] RE: MDF as tympan in relief work?
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Felt blankets are ideal for pushing dampened paper into the etched lines of
an etching plate so the ink gets picked up by the paper. I agree with
Barbara, matboard is perfect but now that I found the graphic rubber
blankets, they are even more perfect(er) and allow better even printing with
less pressure. Although I have never used it I think the cutting board may
be too slippery, the rubber blankets "grab" thus avoiding any slippage.



Aside from the rubber blankets, a discovery I call my epiphany, for years I
used plain matboard and blotters as needed. I make a sandwich of blotters
and matboard when I find the right thickness needed and tape at the edge,
so I don't' have to fuss with loose things every pass. When I need a thicker
tympan I have used MDF or plank wood but I place it under the block to build
height not so much as a tympan. The harder the tympan the less the detail
that is picked up but also the less background "noise" that is picked up.



Each woodcut should call for a different tympan so no one tympan is going to
be perfect for every block. If a woodcut has large empty areas and
background noise might be inked and picked up, then a harder tympan might be
in order to avoid pushing the paper down in between. However if the same
woodcut has large black areas to be printed then a softer tympan (rubber
blanket) will yield a more even print. This is why letterpress printers
spend so much time doing prep work (make-ready). Sometimes each area demands
a different treatment for very detailed woodcuts. Most woodcuts are more
forgiving though.



Hard to know what is causing your line. Maybe too much pressure around those
areas (I have found no woodblock/pressbed/tympan combination is perfectly
flat) is causing the paper to skip? Maybe just too much pressure? Once an
edge of a cut picks up ink, it will attract more ink and if the tympan is
too soft, the excess ink will be picked up. Is it an ink line or an embossed
line?



Maria



[=o=][=o=][=o=][=o=]

www.1000woodcuts.com

www.artfestivalguide.info

[=o=][=o=][=o=][=o=]

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Message 3
From: Renee
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:07:09 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43990] Re: MDF as tympan in relief work?
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Good Morning All,

Phil, you might try printing upside down. This works for me, your press's presure must be adjusted just right, (I have an intaglio press but use it for woodblocks all the time), I place the paper on the press bed, it is a phenolic resin bed covered with plexiglass, then, I place the block, carefully inked, face down on the paper, no blanket or tympan, I just run it through. This is probably breaking a hundred rules, but it works! Hope this helps. Good luck!

I am pondering a small thing for my small print (a bee, a tiny flower, flying ladybug, a tiny portrait???) So many posibilities! So looking forward to the exchange!.

Happy printing to all.

Renee

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Message 4
From: Phil Hillmer
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:11:04 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43991] Re: MDF as tympan in relief work?
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Hi Maria,

To answer your question, the ink line that I don't want is basically a thin
but noticable outline of the edge of a large area of solid color printed
over two other colors. It is just a noticeable line that I don't want
showing, I just want the color of the large area to show without any
outline.

I am not getting this ink line on the second layer of ink, only the third
layer of ink, and only in some areas of the print. Other areas of this
third layer of ink don't have the unwanted outline.

For your mat board and blotters, do you place your blotters between the
print paper and mat board? Or between the mat board and the roller?

Incendentially I got lucky and found an offset printer in my area who is
going to give me some rubber printing blankets :) I am going to pick them
up now, don't know the size or condition of them but can't look a gift horse
in the mouth! I will try them out before I order from ebay the blankets you
use.



On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 11:26 AM, Maria Arango Diener <

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Message 5
From: Viza Arlington
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:25:59 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43992] Re: New Baren Digest (Text) V56 #5716 (Aug 21, 2011)
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I use chine colle if you would like to contact me off list at
vizaprints@gmail.com i will try to help.
viza

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Message 6
From: "Maria Arango Diener"
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:42:37 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43993] Re: MDF as tympan in relief work?
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Sounds like your ink is either building up at the edges of your cut area or
getting pushed down the side of the cut area. Then it is getting picked up
when the paper gets pushed down into the cut just a little. Makes sense that
it would build up after two or three inkings.

Try less ink, or less pressure and/or a harder tympan until you find the
right combination and the cause of your line. Could also be your ink is too
soft and builds up easily in which case you could try stiffening the ink
with calcium carbonate if oil based (or letting it dry on the slab a bit if
it is water-based).

Could also be the block is "bouncing" when printing due to high pressure,
giving you a double impression on the edges, but the bounce line would be
there even on the first inking. Avoid this by placing the block at a slight
angle to the roller for a test impression and see if the line disappears.

Another cause of a line is a bounce when you pick up the paper off the
block. Even a slight unnoticeable "bounce" when picking up the paper will
cause a line but it wouldn't always be in the same place necessarily. Avoid
this by picking up the paper very consciously by one corner and lifting in
one swoop.

Printing sandwich with matboard:

-PRESS ROLLER-
-matboard-
-blotters-
-matboard smooth side down-
-PAPER-
-BLOCK-

If I want embossing then the blotters can be against the print paper. Once
you find the right pressure, tape the matboard-blotters-matboard together on
one end so that you don't have to fiddle with loose sheets every time. I use
blue painter's tape or masking tape.

With rubber blankets:

-PRESS ROLLER-
-rubber blanket(s) rubber side down-
-newsprint sheet to keep blanket clean (optional)-
-PAPER-
-BLOCK-
-rubber blanket rubber side up (keeps block from slipping and Maria happy)-

[=o=][=o=][=o=][=o=]
www.1000woodcuts.com
www.artfestivalguide.info
[=o=][=o=][=o=][=o=]

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Message 7
From: Marilynn Smith
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:44:14 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43994] embossing and a tympan
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Phil,

I have used mat board to be certain of no embossing. It worked just
fine. My last print was press run with no embossing and no tympan and
all my blankets, it was a woodblock. Be sure you are not putting too
much pressure on the block. I usually run an inked block with junk
paper a few times to check the pressure and other things before doing
a series. If I get an emboss, that I don't want, I lighten the
pressure. Often I find the emboss to be a bonus and leave it. I have
also run the block with no ink to check the pressure to be sure it is
not embossing the paper.

As said, decisions vary according to what the artist wishes to convey
in the work itself.

Audley Sue Wing, welcome to our forum and this discussion. You said:
"The real issue is our ability to make the most effective choice for
what we wish to convey to the viewer. In the final analysis that
remains a personal artistic decision." I agree and that is a nice
contribution.

Marilynn

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Message 8
From: Phil Hillmer
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:46:22 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43995] Re: MDF as tympan in relief work?
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AH so you use two mat boards and sandwich in between them blotters?

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Message 9
From: Sharri LaPierre
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:12:19 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43996] Re: MDF as tympan in relief work?
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Phil,
It sounds like you may have too much pressure from the roller. Cut
back on the pressure gradually until you get all of the ink off the
paper and a nice clear impression, but little or no embossing and I
think your problems will be solved.

I've used all kinds of things as a tympan: mat board, cardboard, just
the sizing catcher, no blankets, a rubber printing blanket. Just
about anything works and I would think your cutting mat should work
equally well.

Cheers ~
Sharri

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Message 10
From: Doug Haug
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:00:24 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43997] Black & White
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Mike Lyon said :Everything is easier without color or with a very limited
pallette, seems to me. For me, it is totally the opposite. I don't do b&w
because it is easier, quite the contrary. To be able to create tone, mood,
and texture with just a binary palette is challenging and exciting. Ansel
Adams'"Moonrise, Hernandez, NM" in color would never be as iconic in color.
Then again Pete Turner would be lost in a world of b&w.

I think in black and white. I dream in black and white. I even adopted a
dog that is black and white.

Isn't it great we all have different ideas on these issues?

Doug

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Message 11
From: jcu
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:57:50 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43998] Re: New Baren Digest (Text) V56 #5716 (Aug 21, 2011)
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Hello,

I've used dampened paper to print on with a thin rice paper on top
coated (on the underside) with either methyl cellulose (wall paper
paste)
or rice powder.

What specific questions did you have?

joan
s. ont.
canada

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Message 12
From: Barbara Mason
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 04:58:36 GMT
Subject: [Baren 43999] color and black and white
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Years ago I used only color, my work was all about how color bounced your eye around and how one played off the other,,,then one day I had to have photos taken and the photographer took a roll of black and white of my work....I was so shocked. There was so little contrast in value...so I starred working with black and white and grey and olive green with very little color....then I decided I wanted color again but just as support, not as imagery. I had a terrible time putting color back into my work...but finally did it to where I was satisfied. Now I am more interested in textures and how they affect the imagery...

I think as artists we evolve and change and go back and forth. I think I love grey. And my new favorite ink is graphite. But I do color as well...I just got done printing exchange 49 and though it is subtle color, it is enough. I am sick of printing them...100 will probably do me in! But I am working myself up to it.
Cut and print...
My best to all
Barbara

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Message 13
From: Graham Scholes
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 05:07:45 GMT
Subject: [Baren 44000] Re: color and black and white
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Interesting topic for me to come out of the woodwork.

When I attend Art School.... the first year of 4 we could only work in Black and White.
At the time I was not a happy camper.... However we sure learned about values and over the last 60 years was thankful of the discipline.

CREATE-Cut-Print
Graham
www.woodblockart.ca

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Subject: Building a low-tech block print registration jig
Posted by: Sherrie Y

This item is taken from the blog Brush and Baren.
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Subject: The curse of the greedy printmaker
Posted by: Elizabeth Busey

This item is taken from the blog The World in Relief.
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Subject: "Cats Cradle" Almost Ready to Print

This item is taken from the blog Lori Biwer-Stewart's Printmaking Blog.
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