[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Saturday, 16 May 1998 Volume 03 : Number 157 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ray Esposito Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 09:58:43 -0400 Subject: [Baren 779] Re: re;pigments Graham wrote: >That is all I can tell you. I realize you will have to trust me. But then >why should you. . 'cause you just one rite fin feller and you tell reel goody one-liners cheers Ray Esposito ------------------------------ From: Dan Wasserman Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 09:44:34 -0500 Subject: [Baren 780] Homemade Gelatin Brayer > James wrote: > I for one, have been using a crappy Speedball brayer for my > woodcuts ... Dear James: Nik Semenoff recently sent me several old-time recipes for making gelatin rollers since I was interested in trying them for offset printing from intaglio plates. The recipes are different compositions of molasses and hide glue. I just moved and have not unpacked my home computer yet otherwise I would send them to you myself... I'm sure Nik would e-mail them to you if you contact him. He is very generous. His website is at: http://duke.usask.ca/~semenoff/ New Directions in Printmaking ~dan ------------------------------ From: jimandkatemundie@juno.com (James G Mundie) Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 11:23:29 -0400 Subject: [Baren 781] the magic brush Phil wrote: >For some reason I thought if I could only find that Magic Brush... Phil, A number of years ago my friends and I dubbed this thinking "Magic Brush Syndrome." I know a fellow who, when he was beginning to earnestly study portrait painting in oil, watched the instructor demos very carefully to see which brushes he picked up for certain parts of the painting. My friend decided in all seriousness (the type of seriousness that only art students seem to have), after careful observation and consideration, that the "Magic Brush" (the very term he used) was a number 5 philbert. Why number 5? Up until that time he had only come across brushes in even number sizes; therefore, number 5 _must_ be the secret to painting mastery! We still tease him about this: "Say, what's that brush you're using?" "Why it's my magic brush, of course." One can only assume that number 5 was more magical than a number 3, 7, etc. *** I find my self greatly saddened by the passing of Frank Sinatra this morning. I extend my condolences to fellow mourners. The most depressing aspect is that Liza Minelli is all that remains of the Rat Pack. Cruel fate, why do you mock us? I'd trade Sammy Davis Jr. for Liza any day. Mise le meas, James Mundie, Philadelphia USA ------------------------------ From: Blueman Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 11:31:17 -0400 Subject: [Baren 782] Re: Baren Digest V3 #156 Baren, Graham wrote about the pigments he uses: > Let me know if you want information about the stuff. Graham, I'm interested. The watercolor experiment I tried yes- terday was interesting, but the color wasn't as nice as I would have liked. The black turned out brown when I put the red over it. According to what I have read the black is printed first, yes? I did a two color small block which I had cut for another project (one from the poetry book I made titled VAMPYR). The last image in the book was actually a two color block which printed in the book as a shade of gray with black. At least this time (trying it hanga style) looked better than the first one I did of a quilt square image on kitakata paper. I used BFK Rives Light-weight this time. I think the paper may have been too dry, though. It felt only mildly damp. Also the block was so small that I wasn't sure how much paint and paste. I think I used a lot of paste, more than I should have. The image was a little blurry. Should I have used sumi for the black instead of watercolor? Anyway, GRAHAM, I'd be interested to learn more about the pigments you use and how to get them. By the way, for the baren I used the back of the brush (the one that looks like a little shoe brush that I ordered from McClains). MATT, the jig worked great for registration! I just cut out four small poplar blocks for a four color print of a woman sitting at a table, holding a cup of (Tea? Coffee?) DAVE, I have a question. In stacking the paper for soaking, you mention using "Newspaper". Do you mean newsprint or newspaper. Plain white from the art store, or is it okay to use the Sunday newspaper? It would be fun to come up with a drawing for Mr. Choushi Horimoto. You are asking for a line drawing only, or are colors to be thought of in the design? What I'm asking is would we send to you a fully developed picture; line and color? Gayle Wohlken ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 12:18:12 -0700 Subject: [Baren 783] Pigments and Shina Ray asked. >I would be interested in pigments I have just >a couple of questions, the obvious first one being the cost of a 2oz jar. >I assume cost is based on specific colors? > >The second is, are pigments like inks in that you can have a basic five or >six color palette and mix for other colors or is it best to have individual >pigments for the colors you need? First for the pigments. Yes the cost will vary depending on the colours. There is 8 colours. 2 reds. 2 blues. 2 yellows. A warm and cold in each. + Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre. Mike Turner the supplier is working out costs and will have late next week. Ray was saying he was having trouble holding detail using Shina. Hummmm... Look at my print Carmanah .... the red of the buildings was detail carved using All Shina. The actual size of the red section of the light tower is 1" x1 1/2" Very fine lines there and I had no trouble carving them. Second the Shina. Some one said last week, You should not mix Shina with Basswood Plates. I have done is several times. The Carmanah is an example..two plates Shina...two basswood plates. .....No register problems when printing. This is a very critical register set of plates. How is that you ask...... Print only a small number 12 or less and there is not expansion of wood and therefore no register problems. Even if I had the same wood I would (wood would, funny language) only prints small numbers as I personally find mowing the lawn more exciting. Make sure you varnish your plates after carving to help as a hold out of moisture. Graham Starting a new piece today so will not be around much for the next few weeks. Have fun. ps Oh, I will send pigment prices. ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 16:21:29 -0700 Subject: [Baren 784] Re: the magic brush >Phil wrote: >what's that brush you're using?" "Why it's my magic brush, of course." I recall a situation a few years ago at a 2 week workshop for watercolours where a person would say quietly at first, she wanted a magic brush like mine. At first is was fun but by the end of the two weeks it got a little tiring. In that time I did dozen dozen demonstration and finally towards the end I looked at her and quietly said....My dear it's not the brush. Graham ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 09:58:22 +0900 Subject: [Baren 785] Dave says 'good-bye' ... temporarily! Gayle wrote: >DAVE, I have a question. In stacking the paper for >soaking, you mention using "Newspaper". Do you mean >newsprint or newspaper? This is an interesting one. I would recommend using 'The Daily Yomiuri'. They use a very high grade of paper for their publication. 'The Daily Mainichi' and 'The Japan Times' both use cheaper grades of paper, and it wrinkles too much when first moistened. But that's not what you wanted me to say, is it. I suppose you are worried about whether or not the ink from the newspaper will transfer. I can only say that with the newspapers I get here in Japan, I have never had such problems. I have heard though, from people in other countries, that they get transfer problems when using newspaper. Part of the reason that my local newspapers are OK in this regard is that Japanese newspapers _are_ generally printed on a high grade of paper. It has to do with the 'kanji' characters. These are sometimes very complex and made up of many small strokes. In order to print clearly, the paper must be of a relatively high grade, with a good smooth surface. Your typical english-language newspaper, only dealing with the (relatively) large 'a' 'b' 'c' stuff, can get away with using cheaper stuff ... There's only one way to find out ... _try_ your local rag. In the photo at: http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/001_10/images/printing_1.jpg that is a stack of the 'Daily Yomiuri' in front of me ... *** >It would be fun to come up with a drawing for Mr. Choushi >Horimoto. You are asking for a line drawing only, or are >colors to be thought of in the design? He wants/needs only the line drawing. Colour will not enter into the equation at his stage of the process. If you wish, you can also send a coloured sketch to guide _me_ in the colour block carving, but that's not absolutely necessary ... Collaborative printmaking means being able to stand back and let the 'other' guys do their job ... What comes out may not be exactly what was developing inside your head, but it _will_ be a well-made and attractive print ... *** Some 'administration' stuff: [Baren] is starting to grow rapidly recently, and the number of postings is increasing considerably. This is great - communication about woodblock printmaking is what this list is all about, but I would like to make a couple of requests: (1) You may have heard of the term 'signal to noise' being used about mailing lists. 'Signal' being something _useful_ and _interesting_ to the other members ... 'Noise' being ... well you know what noise is. Please try and help keep the 'signal to noise' ratio high. Don't feel that you have to respond with supportive comments to _every_ post that meets your approval. Remember, you always have the option of private email to somebody to express your support/approval/disapproval, etc. (2) Please try and reduce the amount of quoted material in your posts. We have all read the original post to which you are replying, and do not want or need the whole thing repeated again. Delete all but the barest minimum necessary to remind us of what you are talking about. It just takes you a moment with your mouse and the 'Delete' key to remove the unwanted material, and greatly eases reading of the postings, especially for 'Digest' subscribers. (3) Consider breaking up long paragraphs into shorter ones. Reading on the screen can be quite difficult, and if you keep lots of 'white space' in your posts, it becomes much easier on the eyes. Your message will be read more carefully ... Thank you for doing these things. [Baren] is now well on the way to becoming an invaluable resource for the little world of woodblock printmaking. It is _your_ contributions that have done this, and I look forward to our future growth and development. *** I'm 'out of here' tomorrow morning, off to England for two weeks to try (try!) and get into some museums to inspect and select some prints for my next project. During that time there will be no updates to either the Encyclopedia or the list archives, but the list itself will of course continue operation. When I get back on the 30th and turn this machine on, I expect that it will burst open with a fountain of interesting [Baren] postings ... Have fun! Dave B. P.S. I guess it might be of interest for you to see what that next project will be about, and just what I will be 'searching' for in those museums ... http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~xs3d-bull/surimono/album_1.html ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 10:00:02 +0900 Subject: [Baren 786] 'One-point' lesson Here is this week's 'One-point' lesson, a bit of 'conversation' between printer Mr. Kenji Seki and David Bull ********** ********** ********** (#5) Seki san's advice on brush hair length: Dave: I've been having a bit of trouble getting the pigment spread smoothly on the block recently. I picked up a couple of new brushes, thinking they would help, but with them it's even worse. Seki-san: Did you bring one? Dave: Here it is ... Seki-san: This is unusable. You've done a good job rounding the corners and softening the tips on the sharkskin, but the hair itself is way way too long - it must be 35mm! Dave: But it was brand-new ... right from the shop. Seki-san: (response deleted) Dave: Well, that's just the way things are nowadays. But anyway, what should I do with this one? Seki-san: Get some scissors, shears, or a knife or whatever, and trim the hair down to about 'this' long (he gestures about 25mm with his fingers). Then do your usual job on the frypan and sharkskin. Dave: What's the problem with long hair? Seki-san: Two things. One, such a brush carries too much pigment and paste. You start to get a lot of 'tamari' on the fine lines. And second, you get too much 'floppy' action of the long hairs flipping back and forth as you rub on the wood. It's difficult to apply the pigment in an even layer. Look at this - here's the brush I'm using to apply sumi to the keyblocks. Dave: (looking ...) But those hairs are no more than 12mm long! This is useable? Seki-san: That's one of my best brushes. Dave: Then I should cut the hair about 12mm long ... Seki-san: I don't think so. If you do _that_, you'll find that you just won't get enough life out of it before it gets too short. Start about 25mm long, and it'll last you a few years, gradually getting shorter. Dave: OK, I'll give it a try. But please excuse me if I just try this on _one_ of my brushes before I cut them all down ... Seki-san: That's common sense, I think ... ********** ********** ********** Next week, 'Matsuzaki-san gets pickled ...' These 'One-point' lessons are being collected into a section in the [Baren] Encyclopedia of Woodblock Printmaking. http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/updates.html Contributions from experienced printmakers for future 'One-pointers' are eagerly solicited. ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V3 #157 ***************************