Baren Digest             Saturday, 25 January 2003     Volume 22 : Number 2107


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From: "Jean Eger Womack" <jeaneger#jeaneger.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 06:53:50 -0800
Subject: [Baren 20540] Re:   Baren Digest V22 #2106 

Dave, what elegance you have in your show!  You always were good at lighting
the prints--with your special raking light.  I wish I could see it in
person.  Was that one of Graham's prints on the back wall?
Jean Womack

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From: David Bull <davebull#woodblock.com>
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 00:04:23 +0900
Subject: [Baren 20541] Re: Tokyo exhibition report ... 

Jean wrote:

> Dave, what elegance you have in your show!


Thanks Jean!

Second day now finished ... comfortable number of people coming through. 
Not 'empty', but not so many that I can't chat with most of them ...


> Was that one of Graham's prints on the back wall?


Umm ... ... no.   If you mean the large Fuji landscape, that one is a 
Kawase Hasui 'double oban' print.

Dave


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From: G Wohlken <blueman#pantek.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 10:16:59 +0000
Subject: [Baren 20542] Tinting Paper and Mini Prints 

Dave wrote, (regarding tinting the paper)


>It _must_ be done in one smooth long stroke,
>


and Mike wrote:


>It can be impossible to do this with a 'normal' brush -- one of those 
>WONDERFUL mizu-baki from the Mall at 
>http://www.barenforum.org/mall/products/mizu_bake.html will make quick work 
>of it, 
>


Well, folks,  I found I didn't have a wide brush, but one that is nearly 
half the width of the paper, but I went ahead and tinted it using that 
brush with water mixed with ochre and raw umber.  When the paper dried, 
there was a little unsmoothness, but I rather like it!  It will mostly 
get covered anyway since most of my blocks this time cover most of the 
image area except the face and hands, and the color areas are quite 
intense.    This is actually a boring piece I'm doing, designwise,  but 
I needed for this first time on my own (with a little help from my 
worldwide friends)  to approach this with simplicity.    

As for printing, I'm relearning every thing I forgot in the two years 
since I was first introduced to it all at Boot Camp. I'm finding that 
after about 10 practice sheets, you get the feel for what you need -- 
paste, water or pigment or all three or two of those or just water once 
the brush is loaded.  At first it seems you'll never get "there", but 
magically it happens.

So I'm going to prepare about 10 newsprint sheets to go at the head of 
my edition like Wanda suggested.  Right now, I'm still playing with 
color to see what I can do to make that black come alive.  Any tips?     


****


>http://www.mlyon.com/prints/relief/teeny_tiny.htm >


Mike, your miniatures make me want to ask questions.  When you are doing 
a reduction print with hanga, you have to print, then keep the paper on 
hold, while you carve more, then print again, then carve, then print 
again?  It seems with miniatures it would work better than with larger 
pieces because of the danger of the paper going moldy from waiting?  
By the way, they are lovely,  photo realistic pieces, and I don't know 
how you achieve it, but hanga seems a good medium for it.

Gayle in Ohio  

  



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From: G Wohlken <blueman#pantek.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 10:40:46 +0000
Subject: [Baren 20543] Here I am posting TWICE 

http://www.mlyon.com/index.htm?prints/relief/teeny_tiny.htm~mainFrame

Mike, in looking at your mini block, where are the kentos?  What are 
those slashes going through the line around the print.  Are you 
registering a different way?  Would you  fully describe your 
process for all of us.  How do you get the effects we are seeing in the 
finished print?    How many printings to achieve the final image?  How 
many blue shades are there?  What sort of carving are you doing that 
makes it look so photo realistic so that the colors look as if they 
blend together at the edges somewhat?  

Gayle/Ohio




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From: Mike Lyon <mikelyon#mlyon.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:57:35 -0600
Subject: [Baren 20544] Re: Tinting Paper and Mini Prints 

At 10:16 AM 1/24/2003 +0000, Gayle wrote:


>>http://www.mlyon.com/prints/relief/teeny_tiny.htm

>
>Mike, your miniatures make me want to ask questions.  When you are doing a 
>reduction print with hanga, you have to print, then keep the paper on 
>hold, while you carve more, then print again, then carve, then print 
>again?  It seems with miniatures it would work better than with larger 
>pieces because of the danger of the paper going moldy from waiting?
>
>Gayle in Ohio


Dear Gayle,

You are correct, you have to print each sheet, keep the paper on hold, 
carve more, print more, carve more, print more, etc.  My last several 
exchange pieces have all been done using these same techniques (#12, #13, 
#14, #14a, #15).  On the larger sheets, I am usually printing 50 to 60 
sheets, and when there are more than about 8 or 10 blocks (layers?) to 
print, then I add a little formalin (I got it at our local toy, hobby, and 
science shop) to my water (all my water -- the water I use to dampen the 
paper, the water I use to dampen the block, the water in my spritzer) in 
order to prevent the growth of mold.  Then I can print for a couple of 
weeks without that problem.  I can also dry my paper and re-wet it later 
when I resume printing, although I don't usually do that.

My #15 hanga exchange print is a four block reduction with about 28 color 
layers.  So I wet the paper, carve each of the four blocks, come in the 
following morning, print each of the 56 sheets on each of the four blocks 
(all sheets on one block, then all sheets on the next block, etc), then lay 
out my paper in a way I feel will allow the moisture to migrate equally 
throughout each sheet, transfer the next carving plan to each block, and 
carve while the paper relaxes overnight.  Then come in the next morning and 
print each block and repeat until done (it will take about 10 days or so to 
complete the printing, I think).

- -- Mike


Mike Lyon
mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com
http://www.mlyon.com  

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From: "marilynn smih" <marilynnsmih#hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 08:45:08 -0800
Subject: [Baren 20545] Re: Baren Digest V22 #2106 

Jean, I think we all personalize our art, no matter what method we do.  I 
agree that it is important to know and understand the more structured 
methods before we sail off into the sunset, so to speak.  I received my art 
degree after I went back to the university to take a drawing class.  I was 
painting and had always done art, but never learned to draw well.  The 
basics of drawing allowed me to move off into many fun and interesting 
directions and they still hold when i pick up a carving knife and fly off 
into whatever direction it leads me.  It feels so much like drawing!  I love 
to sketch, freely, and in whatever mode pleases me, rarely highly detailed 
and often more to capture the essence of my subjects.  My 14a print was a 
ball to do because I sat on the beach and carved.  than to finish it i sat 
on our balcony. overlooking the sea of Cortez with classical music playing 
on my stereo and let it flow.  I was amazed to find that I could just carve 
in all those lines and spaces and have it feel so like my Baja beach!  That 
wonderful, slightly smaller 14a exchange indeed contained some amazing work. 
  Mile Lyon, yes his was marvelous and I was thrilled to wait for Horacio 
Soares Neto to get me his work from Brazil, a truly amazing piece.  And 
Barbara Mason and her night time version of 14 and Barbara Patera and her 
colorful fish and Jean your intersting piece and so much much more. Oh and 
from Japan that wonderful black and white figure piece, ummmm geez your 
name, alzheimers again, ooops. What an amazing group of prints!  Each was 
lovely and I apololgize if I did not mention each print, but the folio is 
sitting in Washington while I waste this sunshine typing messages here in 
Baja.  So bye, time for my swim!
Marilynn from both Nahcotta Washington and baja Mexico



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From: Mike Lyon <mikelyon#mlyon.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 10:31:41 -0600
Subject: [Baren 20546] Re: Here I am posting TWICE 

At 10:40 AM 1/24/2003 +0000, Gayle wrote:

>http://www.mlyon.com/index.htm?prints/relief/teeny_tiny.htm~mainFrame
>
>Mike, in looking at your mini block, where are the kentos?  What are those 
>slashes going through the line around the print.  Are you registering a 
>different way?  Would you would fully describe your process for all of 
>us.  How do you get the effects we are seeing in the finished 
>print?    How many printings to achieve the final image?  How many blue 
>shades are there?  What sort of carving are you doing that makes it look 
>so photo realistic so that the colors look as if they blend together at 
>the edges somewhat?
>
>Gayle/Ohio


Dear Gayle,

I carve the kento in the "usual" way.  The kento are visible in the photo 
of the block and tools -- the corner kento is at the lower right -- those 
'slashes' you are looking at are from my quickly carving enough away from 
around the kento so that my kento-nomi can have an unobstructed and easy 
access to pare away a paper thickness (actually a bit thicker) 'shelf' from 
the surface to the kento...  I just searched the Baren Encyclopedia and was 
unable to find any entry showing basic kento design and carving... I'll see 
what I can do in coming months to expand the Encyclopedia...  Assistance 
gratefully accepted!

The carving and printing (except that I save a lot of wood and a lot of 
time by reduction method) are completely traditional -- the photo-realism 
is done prior to carving and printing -- by photographing my model and 
using the photo as the source for my printing...  I produce tonal contours 
from the photo -- contours for all areas 'x' or darker and print those in 
color 'x'  -- then I reduce the printing areas by carving away color 'x' 
and print the next darker color contours which are 'left' (color x1), etc.

I use my computer and photoshop to do most of the hard work of this.

The eye re-assembles those printed contours into something resembling the 
original photo.  The more tones are printed, the 'smoother' the finished 
print looks -- or the closer it approaches continuous tone.  The inevitable 
inaccuracies in my color mixing are usually overcome by the power of the 
mind to reassemble the image, plus -- no matter how messed up I am in 
coloring, each layer effectively is darker than the previous, since the 
darkest colors have been overprinted with each pass of the paper over the 
block -- so 8 'blocks' or 24 'blocks' or more, each printing transparent 
colors on top of other transparent colors can produce luxurious and very 
deep, rich, and complex hues.

Here's a detail of a 24 block reduction all in shades of blue: 
http://www.mlyon.com/images/madonna_detail.jpg in this print the 
'background' was embossed prior to printing with pigments, so that's what 
causes the subtle pattern of horizontal and vertical lines, but take a look 
at the shoulder, upper arm, and breast.  Here you can clearly see the edges 
of each of the contours...  These are just printed 'flat' with no gradation 
or other special effects -- very simple stuff!

I can prepare a more detailed description of my process than this if you 
are really interested, but I think this is just the sort of thing which 
interests me (I love process!  and I am intensely interested in perception 
and the nature of our personal reality, so the sort of analytical stuff and 
long hours of carving and printing and figuring out are right up my alley), 
but right now I'm going to HAVE to go back to printing, or I won't be able 
to get my #15 prints in before Kat's generous two week extension expires!

Best,

Mike




Mike Lyon
mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com
http://www.mlyon.com  

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From: Mike Lyon <mikelyon#mlyon.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 10:57:13 -0600
Subject: [Baren 20547] Re: Here I am posting TWICE 

At 10:40 AM 1/24/2003 +0000, Gayle wrote:

>http://www.mlyon.com/index.htm?prints/relief/teeny_tiny.htm~mainFrame
>
>How many printings to achieve the final image?  How many blue shades are 
>there?
>
>Gayle/Ohio


Sorry, Gayle -- just realized I missed answering this part...  all prints 
were prussian blue and sumi -- no sumi until about 1/2 way, then increasing 
amounts mixed into the blue.

"Sarah" (the portrait) had 16 printings and 16 shades of blue and black
"Dana" (the standing nude) had 11 printings and 11 shades of blue and black 
(and I lost 2/3rds of them in the second printing because I lost my focus 
and printed them on the back of the paper -- the figure was so close to 
centered in the sheet that I didn't notice it was off until I'd ruined 
almost all of them... the drawback of reduction printing is that there's no 
going back <sigh>!
"Blue Robe" had 7 or 8 printings and 7 or 8 shades of blue and black

- -- Mike


Mike Lyon
mailto:mikelyon#mlyon.com
http://www.mlyon.com  

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From: ReadDevine#aol.com
Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 06:02:18 EST
Subject: [Baren 20548] Re: Baren Digest Teeny Tiny 



In a message dated 1/25/03 12:01:17 AM AUS Eastern Daylight Time, 
owner-baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp writes:



> Anywho...  my new teeny tiny prints can be viewed on-line at 
> http://www.mlyon.com/prints/relief/teeny_tiny.htm -- I think they're sorta 
> "precious"     :-)
> 
> - -- Mike
> 
> 
> 


These are amazing Mike! I adore the miniature in many mediums (attempted to 
create work for that exhibition and didnt read the size stats properly!). 
Yours leave me gobsmacked with admiration. (transl. hit in the face) :-)

What is the best wood to cut with such fine detail? I have only ever engraved 
on end grain hard wood when working small, but would like to try the 'plank'  
sometime. 

Mellissa Read-Devine
Tennyson, Sydney, Australia
www.depicture.com.au

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End of Baren Digest V22 #2107
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