Pigment Bowls and Tray … Complete

All done ready for use .. makes moving “stuff” around easier.For this particular printing sequence .. I do not require RED pigment .. a single Blue/Green/Aquamarine custom colour and Black for the hair detail.

Information for a friend

New motor fitted to an old table saw:

Printing Pigment Bowls and Custom Try

Figuratively speaking I have multiple hundreds of; Tea Cups, accumulated over many years in the Far-East. Given this, it was easy to divert six suitable cups to become; Pigment Bowls.

I don’t need large bowls, I dabble in making woodblocks prints, not setting up a business. Why six? .. Easy:  five are insufficient and seven an excess.

1) Black

2) Red

3) Blue

4) Yellow

5) White .. cheating a little

6) Custom Colour Mix

This custom tray, made from recycled mahogany, a little over indulgence .. but its a hobby!

A colour matching stain applied and setout to dry, before an Oil and Wax finish is applied.

Sad horse needs to be mended

New Woodblock … 3rd. / final update

I’ve finished up testing/trialing a Mahogany wood block .. with various Water based acrylics and inks, these on a variety of papers.

Conclusions .. mahogany .. the species I used .. is not suitable for woodblocks / fine carving details.

I’ve selected an Ink / Paper combination to move forward with .. see pictures below.

Also I’ll carve a new block using “different” wood, time will tell if it’s “better”

A pair of sub-standard prints … Colour is not important at this stage !!!.. this is a paper designed for Acrylics/ Oil paints .. not so good for transfer printing …

Various papers I use on a regular basis plus the Printmaking paper (new to me)The Printmaking paper works for me .. holds the ink .. a few details to work out .. but that will be on block #2Paper and Ink combo .. Ink detail below.

New Woodblock … update number TWO….

Carving phase one complete … the pseudo-Key Block.  Block prep with colours .. Aquamarine .. main block .. Black for hair

 

The second side of the block also completed.

Test printing to follow, a little deeper colour towards the blue spectrum .. I’ll set up for that tomorrow. the hair colour is fine

Given the various issues with using mahogany as a carving material I’ll use Acrylic artist paint to test the block .. and bring this test/exercise to a conclusion.

Good value … affordable tools

I'm a bit of a tool snob .. NOT a brand-name follower but I like “Good well made tools.  Much to my surprise / pleasure I found this bargain carving tool set.

I have used tools from this set and see no problems … basically a buck for a tool … life is good

New Woodblock … update

Bottom line .. the material used, reclaimed Mahogany, is unsuitable for woodblock carving. Main problem is carving cross-grain, the wood proved to be; “crumbly” and could not support fine detail. Any other accolades in regards to the material/wood, salvaged mahogany,would be redundant.

Paper removed to expose “crumbly” nature of cross-grain carving.
Multiple carving tools etc. tried with no luck.
PS. carving with  the grain is a treat .. smooth and easy to control.

Woodblock preparation complete … 3 of 3

Woodblock and image placement / adhesion all complete, ready to carve.Printed image size: as seen on the steel rules placed for reference:

Approx: 6½” x 4½” …. 170mm x 115mm

First Image preparation … part two (2)

Generating a Black / Gray Scale image to be used for adhering to a woodblock:

Finished Image on the LEFT .. Mirror Image on the Right, used for woodblock preparation.

Four copies were printed, same printer, same ratio / sizeImage ready to glue onto the block .. testing three samples before glue-up.

a) glue applied to dry paper, b) glue applied to dry wood , c) on wetted wood … results to follow. UPDATE: either of the dry glue applications work fine.

I00% water clean up, complete paper and glue residue removal, woodblock is ready for use/printing.Why would you NOT use; Disappearing Purple Elmer's glue??? borrowed from my granddaughter …

 

Setting the FIRST Image onto a Woodblock .. part 1

There are  several methods to place the image to be carved onto the woodblock.

I’m looking at a method of placing a FIRST / KEY-Block image onto the block. Specifically I want a viable alternate to using Japanese Gampi Paper.  The image placed onto the block is a MIRROR image of the finished Print.

I plan to use software to simply flip an image and print out a copy, paste that onto a block and carve.  I’ve selected a very popular and uncomplicated image to reproduce:

Female Nude Seated in Water 水に裸女 Japanese Late Meiji era 1906
Ichijô Narumi (Japanese, 1877–1910), Publisher Japanese Postcard Club

This example shows; with and without Stamp-Franking

Here we see the image and a Mirror image suitable to place onto a woodblock

Woodblock preparation: Registration Marks

Some basic tools to establish the requisite paper registration marks:

a) standard 1” flat chisel

b) small flat gouge

c) registration template

Right hand Horizontal and Vertical marks to set paper registration.Left hand horizontal mark

New Woodblock preparation

First prototype block using reclaimed wood from my collection of eclectic species and sources.

I pulled out a Mahogany board that once was part of a High-End Mitutoyo Height Gauge cabinet. Using this for the surfaces of the Block. The plywood core… good quality veneer ply with void free core.

Block size: Eight by Six by One and a half inches .. 8”x 6”x1½”.  The faces and plywood core are all ½” thick. approx. 200 x150 x 38 mm

Using Bessey brand clamps:  block sandwich cures.Cut to size using a Table-Saw sled .. block 8”x 6”x 1½”

The view seldom seen

Surfacing from her SCUBA dive, Robin captured this unique view of an Oil Rig, off the S.Cal. coast

Plein Air Painting …

A French term referring to: Painting Outdoors.  Inspired by French Impressionists wishing to paint in “natural light” capturing its nuances, described the technique as: “en plein air, “in the open air.”

Painting by Winslow Homer, 1868The above painting captures the essence of plein air.  Today we take the ability to paint outdoors for granted, thinking nothing of the difficulties experienced by the early innovators.  We are spoiled for choice when amassing equipment.

Locally, Laguna Beach is a veritable hot bed of plein air painting and a haven for artists of all ilks.I just completed designing and building a Light Weight – Easy to use set-up using a commercial camera Tripod as a base.   Below, pictures of similar items from Amazon .. $116 for the box .. ouch

Here is the set-up I made from material in the workshop: Box/Pallett and Adjustable Easel with Cam Buttons and Quick release mounting plate