Today's postings

  1. [Baren 39041] Re: Shunga Exchange, Registration Board (Annie Bissett)
  2. [Baren 39042] Re: Shunga Exchange, Registration Board (Barbara Mason)
  3. [Baren 39043] Re: Shunga Exchange, Registration Board (Diane Cutter)
  4. [Baren 39044] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
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Message 1
From: Annie Bissett
Date: Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:38:40 GMT
Subject: [Baren 39041] Re: Shunga Exchange, Registration Board
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Hi Bareners,

It has been quiet around here lately, hasn't it?

Carol, thanks so much for pointing me to Exchange #19, Baren's shunga
exchange. There are some wonderful prints in that group. I like your
homage to Utamaro in Exchange 28, too.

And Gayle, thanks for your comment. Nice to be reminded of when I
first joined Baren. I had just taken a workshop with Matt Brown and
was so excited about exploring moku hanga. You all helped me so much
whenever I hit a snag in those early experiments. Reading through the
archives also helped, and I highly recommend it for anyone who really
wants to understand the Japanese method of woodblock printing.

My keyblock is pretty clunky compared to the old masters, or compared
to what Dave Bull has done. The thinnest lines are probably about
1/32 inch (.75 mm). But I like a print that can be seen well from
across a room, so I let my initial pencil/pen drawing be my guide for
how thick to make the lines.

Has anybody tried the new registration boards from McClain's?
http://www.imcclains.com/catalog/woodblocktools/registrationboard.html
I just purchased one and will be trying it out next week. Wondering
if anyone has any tips or input...

best,
Annie
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Message 2
From: Barbara Mason
Date: Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:06:48 GMT
Subject: [Baren 39042] Re: Shunga Exchange, Registration Board
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Annie,
I am happy to take credit for them making them, I showed Alex's husband Richard what I wanted and he made it and it worked well so they decided to put them in the catalog. The only thing you have to be sure of is that you push your block tightly into the L when you are printing. You can move it up and away from the L to ink. I made my kento with artists tape so it was easy to move. No carving involved and for me it was slick as a whistle. Also I put the kento at the top of my print, so I am in effect printing upside down, this allows me more paper at the bottom and also keeps the deckle intact. It is designed for shina plywood, I double stuck taped a strip of foam core on the top of the L to raise it up for a solid wood block as you need it the height of your block or it is really hard to register the paper.
My best to all
Barbara
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Message 3
From: Diane Cutter
Date: Sun, 07 Jun 2009 09:39:30 GMT
Subject: [Baren 39043] Re: Shunga Exchange, Registration Board
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Now I know where I got the idea. My husband made me one and it must have been based on info I picked up from you, Barbara, while at the Summit. My 'L' is 4 inches wide which allows me to have wider margins on my paper, if I chose. And I also use tape for my kentos so I can adapt based on margin size desired.

I love mine. It makes life much simpler ('registration for dummies')... and I agree about making sure the plate is snugged all the way into the corner.


Diane

www.dianecutter.com
www.theitinerantartist.blogspot.com
www.DCutter.etsy.com

Digest Appendix

Postings made on [Baren] members' blogs
over the past 24 hours ...

Subject: [Forest in Summer - 2] : Carving gets underway ...
Posted by: Dave Bull

Continued from [Forest in Summer - 1]

Even after getting the design nailed down on this one, moving to the carving step has taken time, well over a week. I've been wresting again with that same question - how realistic, how abstract.

The previous print - the water reflection - used no 'camera assistance'. There is absolutely nothing real in that image whatsoever; everything you see was created by me from nothing. (Yet interestingly enough, I've still had comments about how 'real' it looks!)

But given the idea that I mentioned in the previous entry discussing this current print - to really 'zoom in' close up on something - I don't quite see how I can avoid moving back toward the realism. I don't really see how 'close up detail' and 'abstract' can be very compatible with each other.

So I looked over the prints that are done so far (and the ideas I have for the couple yet to come), and figured - alright, this might be the 'last chance' for it in this series, maybe we should see just how far we can push the realism side of this.

There is another factor that came into play - due to the way that I got things done during the first year of work on this series (when I produced two autumn prints), there are no autumns left. This current summer print will be followed by a winter, and the series will then finish with a spring.

Hmmm ... that means I've got some 'time' available for this one.

Hmmm ...

OK, we'll talk more about this later, for now, here is an image of the first block to go under the knife (clickable).

I had a good clear day of work yesterday, and the carved patch represents three hours in the morning, three hours in the afternoon, and another two hours in the evening. (Maybe I should keep track of the working time right through the project ... it might be interesting ...)


This item is taken from the blog Woodblock RoundTable.
'Reply' to Baren about this item.


Subject: Cinderella Fence Post
Posted by: Sharri

To the left is the fence post before its trip to the beauty shop. Actually it was replaced with a new one of the same family as the carpenter ants had about devoured the old one. Several years ago I purchased the ceramic tiles with our address numbers while on a trip to Italy. The numbers have been hanging around the studio, quietly waiting their turn for attention. Last week I had reached critical mass in the procrastination department and set about the beautification of the fence post which had been leaning in one corner taking up space. I received a new tool for Christmas which has an attachment that made cutting the trough for the tile a very easy matter. The cut had to be about 3/8" deep as these were thick tiles. The tiles were then seated with mastic and grouted with a tan sanded grout (left over from another tile project). Then some scroll and floral motifs were carved and the whole thing stained with a Rosewood/Cherry stain (left over from the kitchen). My darling son was gracious enough to bribe a friend to come out with him and set the new post for me. I'm so pleased with it, I wonder why I didn't do it years ago and now have plans to do one for the other end of the driveway. (It is a semi-circle drive with two entrances.) I haven't told the son of the latest plan, yet. ;-)

This item is taken from the blog Rag & Bone.
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Subject: Susanna and The Voyeurs
Posted by: Sharri

Susanna is a composite image (worked in Photoshop) ? the forest, a group of men, and Susanna in her bath. It is based on the biblical story of beautiful young Susanna who has dismissed her servants for the day and gone out to her tub for a nice relaxing bath. Some old men take advantage of the chance to watch her and then manage to get into her bath area, accost her and demand sex. She refuses, so to punish her they accuse her of hanky-panky with her lover. But, during the trial, Daniel surfaces and cross examines the men and they have conflicting accounts. Instead of Susanna being stoned to death, the two accusing liars lose their lives for bearing false witness. The moral of the story, I'm sure, is a lofty one about truth & innocence trimphing over lies & false accusations , however I choose to believe that it is if you are going to bathe outdoors do so with a watch-dog on duty. In the biblical story the accusers are pillars of the community, well respected elders. In my version they are a group of church men who have been on some sort of religious retreat. They are more the lookie-loos, than men who would do any harm. The print is digital with watercolor and color pencil. It was printed on a wide format printer with Epson Archival inks on Digital Media paper from Daniel Smith.

This item is taken from the blog Rag & Bone.
'Reply' to Baren about this item.