Today's postings

  1. [Baren 37486] Re: maru bake (Peter Kocak)
  2. [Baren 37487] baren printing vs. press printing (Lester Doré)
  3. [Baren 37488] Re: Preparing brushes (Graham Scholes)
  4. [Baren 37489] Blotchy prints (Rosposfe # aol.com)
  5. [Baren 37490] more on maru bake singe (Cucamongie # aol.com)
  6. [Baren 37491] Re: more on maru bake singe (Graham Scholes)
  7. [Baren 37492] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
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Message 1
From: Peter Kocak
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:24:08 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37486] Re: maru bake
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thank you Dave,
so perfect..

Peter Kocák
www.pulib.sk/kocak
www.flickr.com/photos/pietrocelli
www.flickr.com/photos/marukiboshi
www.youtube.com/videos/pietrocelli123
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Message 2
From: Lester Doré
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:10:23 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37487] baren printing vs. press printing
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Hi forum

I've been mostly lurking here, partly because the Reply link in the
html digest doesn't work for me (I've contacted David about this). I
read the digests daily with great interest; I'm learning from you all.
I've been in a few exchanges now and learned even more from my
experiences on the workbench. I've used both water-based and oil based
inks applied to the block with a brayer and printed with various
makeshift barens (wooden drawer knobs, a bone folder, an old-fashioned
wooden handle screwdriver handle) and a "student-grade" traditional
baren. I don't own a press, so when I tore the rotator cuff of my
right shoulder, I used a friend's Dick Blick etching press for one
edition, doing the inking and printing myself, and for Exchange #38
paid a printer to run the edition on her Vandercook proofing press.
The results were marvelously uniform (maybe too much so.) I've signed
up for Exchange #39 hoping that the recovery from the surgery I have
scheduled on my shoulder will be speedy enough for me to teach my self
the Japanese printing technique and complete the edition--I will know
by January 1 if it is possible, and intend to drop out if I think I
can't do it.

So I have questions about printing. When I receive a bundle of prints
I can usually tell which of them are Moku-hanga and therefore printed
by hand with (probably) a traditional baren. I can't tell if the
others are hand-printed or press-printed. How do forum members decide
what is a "hand-pulled" print? Does the block have to be inked by hand
and printed with a baren? Can it be inked by hand and printed on an
iron hand press or etching press? How about a platen press? And
finally, what about a Vandercook proofing press, which inks the press
with its own roller? The "hand-pulled" part of the method of any of
these processes varies. I want to learn to print properly with a
proper baren--my makeshift barens damaged one block (of pine) so
quickly that I got only a few prints from it before the edges of the
the "islands" started to round over.

But--my shoulder injury could take up to a year to heal completely, so
press printing may be the near future of my relief printing career.
What are your thoughts on press printing for exchanges?

Lester


Lester Doré
5710 Forsythia Place
Madison Wisconsin 53705
lhdore # wisc.edu
www.wanderoo.net

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Message 3
From: Graham Scholes
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:33:55 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37488] Re: Preparing brushes
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Begs the question... Did you see them do the preparation to/on/with
the brushes...??
If so, have you any details.
If not. why not!

>On my recent trip to Japan and a visit to Woodlike Matsumura I
> bought a range of brushes and while I waited in the office a very
> nice gentleman prepared them for me......... perfectly....... no
> sweat!! My original brushes also hand bought from Japan by a WA
> Friend were also professional quality and also prepared ready for
> printing. Baren Mall uses Matsumura why not ask when ordering them
> and then you will have no "Stuff ups".
>
> Mine look so nice it was hard to use them for first time just like a
> big big sheet of expensive white painting paper....... don't get
> one, get several!
>
> Just my tuppence worth! And no stress involved!!
>
> Jan
>
> Perth WAust
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Message 4
From: Rosposfe # aol.com
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:16:36 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37489] Blotchy prints
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Thanks to all who responded and offered suggestions on the blotchiness to
some of my prints.
Heroic F.Truba, a baren member stopped by yesterday and we went over some
of the work and I watched him print a bit. It seems as many guessed that
I'm still printing too wet, especially in the beginning of a print run when the
extra moisture from the brush gets the block too wet.
I think that the occasional coincidence of printing a bit too wet on the
occasional wrong side of the paper led to the erratic nature of the problem.
Thanks, to all who chimed in. The baren forum proves again to be a great
resource.
Andrew.
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Message 5
From: Cucamongie # aol.com
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:01:15 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37490] more on maru bake singe
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I forgot to say in my previous email, my first woodblock teacher taught me
that you can singe the edges of the brush by sort of tipping the brush, instead
of cutting them.

Sarah
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Message 6
From: Graham Scholes
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:06:27 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37491] Re: more on maru bake singe
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Sarah wrote:

> I forgot to say in my previous email, my first woodblock teacher
> taught me that you can singe the edges of the brush by sort of
> tipping the brush, instead of cutting them.

My goodness, you got that right again.... ({
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Message 7
From: Blog Manager
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:54:25 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37492] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification
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This is an automatic update message being sent to [Baren] by the forum blog software.

The following new entries were found on the listed printmaker's websites during the past 24 hours. (55 sites checked, five minutes before 9:00 AM Eastern time)

*****************

Site Name: Flights of Art

Author: Carol
Item:
http://artflights.blogspot.com/2008/11/blog-post.html

*****************

A list of the sites/blogs currently being checked is available at this address:
http://barenforum.org/blog/rss/blog_main_urls.txt