Today's postings
- [Baren 40587] Re: Reduction prints Exchange 44 how many blocks?., "Pi" my exchange 43 contribution, printing errors due to haste (Diane Cutter)
- [Baren 40588] Re: Reduction prints Exchange 44 how many blocks?., "Pi" my exchange 43 contribution, printing errors due to haste (Elizabeth Atwood)
- [Baren 40589] Re: Reduction prints Exchange 44 how many blocks?., "Pi" my exchange 43 contribution, printing errors due to haste ("Kristine Alder")
- [Baren 40590] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
Message 1
From: Diane Cutter
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:22:10 GMT
Subject: [Baren 40587] Re: Reduction prints Exchange 44 how many blocks?., "Pi" my exchange 43 contribution, printing errors due to haste
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Andrew...
A reduction print is one where only one block is used for all the colors. So the way to go is to first plan out what colors you will need for your image; whether or not your inks are transparent and change color when printed on top of each other or opaque and cover the colors underneath; whether you want the paper to show in the design, etc. etc.
It's quite a challenge and I have great admiration for those who regularly do more than three colors, being a rather monochromatic printmaker myself. Good registration is paramount, good planning of the colors is, too. It will be a true challenge for me to get 31 great prints out of that block... no way can we procrastinate on this particular exchange!!! It's no wonder they are fondly nicknamed 'suicide prints'.
Diane
www.DianeCutter.com
www.theitinerantartist.blogspot.com
www.DCutter.etsy.com
A reduction print is one where only one block is used for all the colors. So the way to go is to first plan out what colors you will need for your image; whether or not your inks are transparent and change color when printed on top of each other or opaque and cover the colors underneath; whether you want the paper to show in the design, etc. etc.
It's quite a challenge and I have great admiration for those who regularly do more than three colors, being a rather monochromatic printmaker myself. Good registration is paramount, good planning of the colors is, too. It will be a true challenge for me to get 31 great prints out of that block... no way can we procrastinate on this particular exchange!!! It's no wonder they are fondly nicknamed 'suicide prints'.
Diane
www.DianeCutter.com
www.theitinerantartist.blogspot.com
www.DCutter.etsy.com
Message 2
From: Elizabeth Atwood
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:34:10 GMT
Subject: [Baren 40588] Re: Reduction prints Exchange 44 how many blocks?., "Pi" my exchange 43 contribution, printing errors due to haste
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Andrew............Seconding all Diane's advice.
Also, plan to print many more than you will need in the final because
there is no going back.
You might also use a stencil overlay is some instance.
A reduction print is approached much like a watercolor painting.
Plan, plan, plan.
Most of my large prints have been "reduction" and I prefer that
method. And it saves on the expense of multiple blocks.
BUT you cannot later have an interesting block to sell.......as Maria
does so well.
Enjoy...........ElizA
Also, plan to print many more than you will need in the final because
there is no going back.
You might also use a stencil overlay is some instance.
A reduction print is approached much like a watercolor painting.
Plan, plan, plan.
Most of my large prints have been "reduction" and I prefer that
method. And it saves on the expense of multiple blocks.
BUT you cannot later have an interesting block to sell.......as Maria
does so well.
Enjoy...........ElizA
Message 3
From: "Kristine Alder"
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:36:59 GMT
Subject: [Baren 40589] Re: Reduction prints Exchange 44 how many blocks?., "Pi" my exchange 43 contribution, printing errors due to haste
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To Andrew and all who have questions regarding Ex. 44's reduction technique:
A reduction print is indeed created from one block, carved in layers or stages. We have specified a 3-color reduction so as to not overwhelm those who are new to the technique with complicated layering. If you are comfortable with the reduction process and would like to use more than three colors/layers, I can see no reason to limit yourself to three.
I hope she won't mind my referring you to her site but, Maria Arango has a really great explanation and examples on making reduction prints in her studio notes section at http://www.1000woodcuts.com/Studionotes/Reduction.html I recommend that you check it out.
Happy Cutting and Printing!
Kristine Alder
Exchange Manager
A reduction print is indeed created from one block, carved in layers or stages. We have specified a 3-color reduction so as to not overwhelm those who are new to the technique with complicated layering. If you are comfortable with the reduction process and would like to use more than three colors/layers, I can see no reason to limit yourself to three.
I hope she won't mind my referring you to her site but, Maria Arango has a really great explanation and examples on making reduction prints in her studio notes section at http://www.1000woodcuts.com/Studionotes/Reduction.html I recommend that you check it out.
Happy Cutting and Printing!
Kristine Alder
Exchange Manager
Digest Appendix
Postings made on [Baren] members' blogs
over the past 24 hours ...
Subject: The First Book - Final Print
Posted by: Annie B
 Japanese woodblock (moku hanga) Paper size: 19" x 14.5" (48 x 37 cm) Image size: 16" x 12" (40.5 x 30.5 cm) 5 shina plywood blocks 5 hand-rubbed impressions and painted English tea Paper: Nishinouchi Edition: 11 Almost exactly one year ago, on a trip to Boston for a long weekend, I first encountered John Eliot's Indian Bible at an exhibit at Harvard. Eliot's Bible was the first Bible printed on American soil, printed in 1663 at the Harvard Indian College, and it was entirely written in the Wampanoag Algonquin language. Eliot's intention for the Bible was to aid in making the Algonquians into Puritans, but since Eliot never really became a fluent speaker, his translations were done with the aid of Massachuset Indian minister John Sassamon, Algonquian journeyman James Printer, and probably others. Although the Eliot Bible did help make Indians into Christians, the multicultural nature of the translation process also helped make Christianity an Algonquian religion, as the translators made the Bible their own. The Bible was used for nearly 200 years until about 150 years ago when the language died out. In 1993/94, 6 generations after the last native speaker of Wampanoag had passed, a Mashpee linguist named Jessie Littledoe Baird (read this fabulous article about how she came to the project) co-founded the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project, beginning the daunting project of reviving the language. The John Eliot Bible is playing a major role in this project as one of the primary texts that have preserved the grammar and vocabulary. I read once that every 2 weeks one of the world's 7,000 languages vanishes. Most of these dying languages belong to indigenous communities that have been stamped out or homogenized by the forces of colonialism and globalization. Languages are repositories of thousands of years of a people?s science and art, observations and understandings, and each disappearance is a loss not only for the community of speakers, but also for our common knowledge. The irony, or maybe one could even say the grace, of John Eliot's Bible is that it was a powerful force of colonization, yet it is now being used as a powerful means of decolonization and reclamation. This is a truly American . . . [Long item has been trimmed at this point. The full blog entry can be viewed here] |
This item is taken from the blog Woodblock Dreams.
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