[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Monday, 17 April 2000 Volume 11 : Number 974 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Vollmer/Yamaguchi Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 12:56:08 -0400 Subject: [Baren 9310] Responses to mail George Sutton, I don't think the people at Pearl Paint know anything about hanga woodcut, it's an unusual technique. Waxed masa is actually waxed, not sized, almost like wax paper, it is sort of transparent. Reuglar Masa is probably fine for western woodcut, with oil base, but you want a sized paper for Japanese. New York Central has a much better variety of oriental papers to choose from. If no one is watching, touch the tip of your tongue to the paper, if it sticks, the paper is too absorbent. As for what Drew called the "suicide method" (reduction cuts): Maria and Andrea are the Baren experts (Karen Kunc does wonderful color woodcuts too, met her at a class she gave in NYC.) Waterbase reduction is tricky because of printing damp. I found I could do several layers by keeping the paper damp overnight under plastic, while I recut the block. But unless you can cut and print all layers in a few days, you will need to dry the paper out and remoisten it when you are ready to print again. Love the Newsfeed, Dave, it is sometimes hard to find the news when we have lots of mail, nice to have it in one place. April Vollmer ------------------------------ From: Vollmer/Yamaguchi Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 12:54:18 -0400 Subject: [Baren 9311] California Update Jean Eger is an A plus student! It was a pleasure to meet her again, especially as she is now feeling healthier and more energetic than ever. She unexpectedly showed up for my class, and stayed! I just got back from a teaching trip to Berkeley California, where I taught a hanga woodcut weekend workshop at the Kala Institute. Five students was the perfect number. A nice variety, but few enough so I could help people individually. Some nice prints. [My FTP skills leave something to be desired, but I'll try to upload a snapshot of Jean and me at Kala.] I'm teaching at Frogman's, Elderhostel, Lower East Side Printshop and Dieu Donne this summer. A busy schedule. Anyone interested can check on my website under 'classes.' Sarah Hauser and I finished our last class at Cooper Union with Yasu Shibata yesterday, too. He's a generous teacher, and I picked up some good information. I think I gave him some good tips too. You hanga printers out there might be interested in an inexpensive proof paper I found: hanga-shi, at about $3.25 a sheet. It is 100% sulphite cellulose, PH neutral, and is medium weight, the best imitation of real washi I've found. Order from New York Central 212-473-7705, or Hiromi Paper 310-998-0098. It's a bit yellowish. April Vollmer ------------------------------ From: "Rich" Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 12:11:58 -0700 Subject: [Baren 9313] great idea Kudos to Wanda and Barbara. The purchase award idea is a generous and = thoughtful one. I believe I would like to lend support as well. Greg = will we be able to see the artwork? Will you be able to scan the prints = for the web site? I would like to purchase a print as well, will I be = able to pick? Andrea Rich PS I love the condenced news updates ------------------------------ From: Wanda Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 14:54:25 -0700 Subject: [Baren 9314] Re: reduction prints webpage Maria wrote: > I think I need to try a different approach, like a 'real' line key block and > then the color blocks. Maria, I know what you mean - when I first started doing Hanga (is it really supposed to be capitalized?) It felt kind of line doing cartoons - here's the black line & here's the color to fill in this & that section. But now, I'm starting to thing of how one block needs to overlay another one to create gradations of color (besides the bokashi stuff) and form and value. So it starts to get more & more complicated as you go along. And then there are lots of other things - like goma, metallics, embossing, etc. Kind of like Pandora's box. I sure hope Maria gets to read this, and isn't sailing off to Hawaii right now, courtesy of the "Nevada gusts of wind" which to most of us mean nature's version of sand-blasing! Wanda ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 11:55:09 +0900 Subject: [Baren 9315] Is woodblock printmaking valid? Got a little package in the mail this morning - an old pamphlet containing the text of a lecture on colour woodblock printmaking given in London to the Royal Society of Arts in 1934 by Hesketh Hubbard. The third section of the lecture deals with the question: if colour printmaking had been _so_ successful in earlier days, in both Europe and Japan, then why is it unable to support its practicioners now? His ideas were written in 1934 ... but I think that many of them are valid for our work today. It's in the Library, ready for your perusal. http://woodblock.com/encyclopedia/updates.html Dave ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2000 22:39:45 -0500 Subject: [Baren 9316] 1934 article David writes about the 1934 article by Hubbard: "His ideas were written in 1934 ... but I think that many of them are valid for our work today." I think this article hits home for many of us here at Baren. Many of his points have been sources of discussion topics at this here forum going back to our start. I think what was true in 1934 still holds for the present. Hubbard's statements about printmakers not designing for the masses, overpricing of prints and the fight for recognition among the other disciplines are as true today as they were 60 years ago. His idea of a group of woodblock printmakers coming together to support, promote and publish their specialized type of work rings......rings......uhmmmm.... can I say it ? Well, I think that is one of the main purposes for the existence of our very own [Baren] group. Thanks...Julio ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V11 #974 ****************************