Baren Digest Tuesday, 9 April 2002 Volume 19 : Number 1792 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jimandkatemundie@juno.com Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 12:02:49 -0400 Subject: [Baren 17817] cleaning brayers Marilynn wrote: > ...my brayer has black on it ahd I scrubbed it too with a > toothbrush. But those crevaces behind the roller are hard to clean thoroughly. > Is there a better way? I am thinking that with a brayer perhaps I need one > for black and one for light colors, but here I can not just run to the store > and buy another, so I must use what I have on hand. Be very careful using abrasive methods like a toothbrush to clean your brayer ('roller' for our friends in the UK). If you scrub at, over time you may pit the rubber surface of the brayer, causing voids to appear when printing. This, of course, leads to uneven inking of the block and one may as well toss the brayer away at that point. The best solution for cleaning, as has already been recommended, are solvents. My tried and true method is as follows: Clean as much ink as possible from your inking slab with a paint scraper. Then roll the brayer on this clean surface repeatedly, stopping every few passes to clean the slab with the paint scraper. By combining time and patience, this method will remove 90% percent of the ink on the brayer. Scrape the slab clean once more, then apply a tiny splash of thinner (I use Turpenoid - an odorless paint thinner manufactured for oil painters) to the center of the slab and slowly roll the brayer back and forth in the puddle, being careful not to slosh the thinner over the edge of the slab. After several passes, the pool of thinner will have turned black. At this point, take out an old telephone directory and roll the brayer across a page, thereby transferring the thinner and inky residue to the paper. Dip the brayer in the thinner, and roll again on the next clean page of the phone book. Repeat until the brayer is free of ink. Wipe the slab with a paper towel, remove the solvent soaked pages from the phone book, and dispose of all properly. With a bit of practice, one needs only the tiniest amount of solvent to clean the brayer. I have found vegetable oil to be an unsatisfactory method for cleaning brayers and blocks. Vegetable oil leaves behind a sticky residue that will forever plague future printing, infecting your pristine ink with rancid oil. Ick! However, no amount of cleaning will completely remove the ink from your brayer. I believe over time a good brayer develops a patina that allows it to be even more effective, like a well-seasoned frying pan. However, because there will always be a tad bit of pigment residue on your roller, it is necessary to have separate brayers for different color groups. For this same reason the moku hanga printers have different brushes for applying different pigments. If you want your colors to stay 'clean', there is no way around it. If one cannot readily acquire a new brayer, perhaps one might construct a number of leather daubers to serve instead. An old pair of gloves, and a bit of padding will do the trick. Cheers, James Mundie http://missioncreep.com/mundie/index.htm ------------------------------ From: "Jean Eger Womack" Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 10:40:36 -0700 Subject: [Baren 17818] Re: Baren Digest V18 #1791 Hi Marilynn, Re: the yellow after the black. You might try running a few test prints on newsprint to gradually get the black out. Along with cleaning the roller with solvent, that ought to do the trick. Jean e-mail: jeaneger@jeaneger.com http://www.jeaneger.com ------------------------------ From: barebonesart Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 11:37:54 -0700 Subject: [Baren 17819] Re: Baren Digest V18 #1791 Marilynn, After you've used the oil to clean your plate and brayer, take it to the sink and scrub both with detergent and hot water. That should do the trick - sometimes I just wipe them with rubbing alchohol after the oil, but with black you need the soap & water routine. To eliminate sending the entire digest with your reply, if you're using Explorer, go to the Preferences folder, and within that the "compose" section & check the box that says not to send the whole message with the reply. They've made it pretty easy :>), but it took me a long time to discover it. Sharri ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 17:26:11 -0700 Subject: [Baren 17820] addendum Thanks all for your nice comments on my extra-long "making a living" thing. I forgot to add a couple of things which came to mind on the drive back from beautiful Arizona. One is that there are many artists that make a much better living than I do, so I really shouldn't serve as a model for anything. I'm one of many just doing my thing. The painter next to me at the Tempe festival raked in 17 thou in 3 days, she sold surrealist, large and ornately-framed "giclees" on canvas. Some people in this very forum are also way ahead of little ol' me; they are just a bit less enthusiastic in public (never a fault of mine). The other is that the art festival scene is, in my opinion, a micro view of the more complex whole: "being an artist." Words that come to mind to describe it are tough, fun, back-breaking, delirious, heart-breaking, uplifting, humiliating, sleep-depriving and butt-kicking (doesn't that sound like printmaking?). This life will absolutely require that you laugh, cry, sweat, bleed, curse and dance, and it is a good way to learn how to do all those very well and sometimes within a three-day period. And just when you begin sailing at frightening speeds and lean back to feel the wind and close your eyes in near ecstasy, it is good to remember that the doldrums await just beyond the next meridian...and the oars best be ready. I think the delirious ups and the hellish downs are very representative of the life of an artist as a whole. It is the hardest fun I have ever had. Right now, however, I have a very dirty vehicle with a frightening oil leak and a tired body in dire need of rehydration. All in stride. Carry on, Maria <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Maria Arango Las Vegas, Nevada, USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com maria@mariarango.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ From: "Maurice Fykes III" Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 18:15:41 -0700 Subject: [Baren 17821] Re: addendum Thanks again Maria. Maurice ------------------------------ From: "Michael Deman" Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 09:35:42 +0200 Subject: [none] I am posting with some trepidation, since my knowledge of woodblock printing is woeful: but I would very much appreciate some help and comments. As background, my wife and I own a workshop in Cairo producing hand-made =91passementeries=92 =96 tassels, fringes, braids =96 which we are = successfully selling to museums, historic home preservation societies, and other institutions. ( for anyone interested =96 and this is not meant to be = spam =96 http://passementerie.port5.com ). Recently, a major client asked me if we would be interested to start making hand block printed wallpapers, destined for the same market niche as our existing business.=20 The project has been started; I have sourced some wonderful wood-free paper formulated specifically for hand made wallpapers, we have a superb young wood carver who has carved blocks by eye from photos of Italian renaissance fabric designs (they look stunning) =96 BUT=85=85we are = failing in the print process. We have tried everything: powder pigments, water colours in tubes, gouache, printing inks, acrylics, even house paints! We have tried every permutation of application of colour onto the blocks =96 brush, and different types of roller; we even made up a tray like a large inking pad =96 we have experimented with differing amounts of colour laid onto the block. We are not trying to print with a baren, since this would be hugely time consuming for a wallpaper project, but with a press: we have experimented with differing amounts of pressure, with different underlying surfaces on the printing table.=20 We have cut our blocks in two types of wood: beech and pine. What we are getting is this: the printed area has =91ridges=92 around = the outline of the pattern=85it seems as if the pressure on the block was squishing the colour sideways. We have tried to correct this by moistening the paper, to no avail; and we have tired with many different grades and qualities of paper, also to no avail. I am sure that this is a very simple =91newbie=92 problem, and I am = hoping that someone will be kind enough to suggest an equally simple newbie solution [:-)] Thanks, Michael >From: webmaster@united-art-world.com >Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 09:55:01 -0700 >Subject: [Baren 17823] Re: > >Hello Michael > >go to www.woodblock.com The web site hosts a licely community of >printmakers - the Baren Forum. They might help you. > >regards > >Dieter ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 16:54:37 +0900 Subject: [Baren 17824] Re: Blotchy wallpaper ... Michael Deman wrote: > ... hand block printed wallpapers, destined for the same market niche > as our existing business. Very interesting to hear about this project. Making wallpaper was one of=20= the first uses for multi-colour woodblock printmaking many centuries=20 ago, and predates its use for more standard 'art' forms. > What we are getting is this: the printed area has =91ridges=92 around = the > outline of the pattern=85it seems as if the pressure on the block was > squishing the colour sideways. Without knowing more about what actual mix of pigment, etc. you are=20 putting on the wood, it is difficult to give you an exact solution. But=20= in 'normal' Japanese woodblock printmaking, such 'squeeze-out' is called 'tamari', and is an indication of too much pigment/paste on the block.=20= Specifically - too much paste. It is also a common problem with rolled-out colour, and can be greatly=20= reduced by using well-softened brushes instead. Use the brush vigorously=20= to get the colour spread well on the block, and then tip the brush up=20 and make the final strokes very softly in one direction only using just=20= the edge of the hair. Brush so lightly that you can barely hear the=20 sound ... Please let us know how you make out ... Dave ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 17:18:09 +0900 Subject: [Baren 17825] Re: More on wallpaper printing ... Michael, Don't know if this is known to you or not, but these folks: http://www.adelphipaperhangings.com ... seem to have the problem figured out! Is your press method similar to theirs? http://www.adelphipaperhangings.com/graphics/redhoriz.gif http://www.adelphipaperhangings.com/graphics/PrintingHamUrnsSteve.jpg Dave ------------------------------ From: Myron Turner Date: Tue, 09 Apr 2002 06:48:19 -0500 Subject: [Baren 17826] Re wallpaper printing with press 1. To print with a press you need to use printing inks, either oil-based or water-based. But if you use water-based you should be using a high-quality ink, as supplied by Daniel Smith Inks Co of Seattle or Graphic Chemical of Illinois. 2. You don't say what kind of roller you are using. You must have a good roller, and preferably one that is not too hard. 30 is the ideal for most applications. A very hard roller with too much ink could cause the problems you describe. 3. You should use minimal pressure. By the way you don't say what kid of press you are using. This means adjusting the pressure downward until the block prints. 4. You speak of different using "underlying surfaces on the printing table." Are you printing with the block facing down or facing up? If the block is printing face down you may not need anything on the press bed. With the block facing up, assuming you are using a cylinder press, the material which comes between the paper and the cylinder should not be too soft, preferably a piece of heavy weight paper or oak-tag. If you are using an etching press you shouldn't be using etching blankets. 5. Roll on just the minimal ink needed to get an impression. A while back I wrote about printing with an etching press and am forwarding that posting to you offline. It may help. Myron Myron Turner http://www.room535.org/mt/ --land safely in cyberspace-- ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V18 #1792 *****************************