[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking.

Baren Digest               Tuesday, 21 April 1998       Volume 03 : Number 133

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From: April Vollmer & John Yamaguchi <jy6@columbia.edu>
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 13:36:48 -0400
Subject: [Baren 660] Skinny Lines and all 

Gayle: The trick is to add some thickener to the ink/paint...sumi or other
pigment....I use methyl cellulose, I think you said you were using a
paste...that colorless stuff conditions the color to sit evenly on the
surface of the block and print evenly. There will be color all over the
block, which is why you need a good stiff paper that won't dip into the low
areas, and a good wide baren that won't push it there either!

It takes a lot of practice to get the amount of pigment/thickener/water
just right. A LOT of practice.

And Grahm, great description of trees! Living in NYC, I have to rely on my
field guide for tree info!

The International Print Center New York is news to me...I had trouble
getting info off the website, but I'll try again, sounds promising...thanks
for passing it along, James! I hope you don't own any cows!

April Vollmer

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From: David Bull <davebull@asahi-net.email.ne.jp>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 21:47:01 +0900
Subject: [Baren 661] Re: inking the blocks ... 

Gayle wrote:
> I can't wait til you tell us how to get the ink
> on the skinny lines without getting it down
> where you don't want it.  Also, when you do
> the black ink, skinny-lined block, do you
> use watercolor or sumi ink?  

The second one is easy ... 'both'.   I use sumi of course, but as it is
simply made from black carbon particles, mixed with glue and water, does
it count as 'watercolour'?

The first one is more difficult.  If you've been using a roller to apply
ink to the raised relief surfaces of a block, the idea of brushing wet
pigment all over the entire surface of the wood probably seems a bit
bizarre.

Yes, it gets everywhere, not only up on the top of the lines where it
belongs, but right down between them and all over the entire surface. 
The reason it works of course, is that the paper has enough 'body' to be
able to lie (lay?) flat up on top, touching only the relief surfaces. 
If it is soggy, or too thin, it will droop down and become smeared.

When using the baren, you _must_ keep it absolutely horizontal, and not
let it touch down in any unwanted areas.  This takes a lot of practice. 
I can't begin to tell you how many prints I spoiled in the early days
until I got control ...

There _are_ some techniques to this.  The brush can not be a soft type
like a sable or something like that, but must have quite firm and stiff
hairs - horse tail or bear are common.  This allows the pigment to be
scrubbed over the wood surface, ensuring an even coating and a good mix
of pigment and paste.  The pigment is _not_ _not_ _not_ 'painted' onto
the surface of the wood.  

But if the hair is so stiff, doesn't it leave streaks and lines in the
pigment? Yes - so that's why the brushes must be rubbed on the
sharkskin.  This gives the hairs 'split-ends', and makes the tip of each
hair fine and soft.  The brush thus has enough 'body' to spread the
pigment, but enough 'softness' to allow the final gentle strokes (always
_across_ the grain) to leave a smooth surface.

I have a book written by an American researcher in the late 1800's who
discussed some of these points with a Japanese expert ...

>American: It seems impossible to prevent smearing, with blocks having 
great shallow hollows, inked with a brush, and therefore charged with color, 
not only on the parts left standing in relief, but also in the depressions, and 
with the thin moist paper used, held down on the plank with one hand, while 
the other guides the baren.

>Japanese expert: Although smearing from the depressions in the block seems 
almost unavoidable, experienced printers, nevertheless, work without fear of 
it, and there is no special way of preventing it.


The key word is of course 'experienced' ...

Try it!


Dave


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End of Baren Digest V3 #133
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