Block Prints Require Testing?!

Ever since I met Andy Farkas, learned about his

craft and (swoon) acquired one of his prints, I have been

anxious to try printmaking.  Of course I dream of starting at the top

 but for once I decided to start at the lowest

 possible level of dabbling: the rubber block print.

Remember when I showed you how easy it was to craft a print out of the styrofoam tray under your fruits?  The next step is to carve from a rubber pad or a piece of linoleum.  So having had success with styrofoam I knew it was but a few short steps to Farkas-quality, right?

The top two carvings are done on small rubber-ish pads and then glued to a piece of wood to make them easier to handle.  The bottom pink pad is uncarved, look for these at Michael's or any art supply store.  The carving on the bottom right was done on linoleum, a much harder surface to carve but still easier than wood, plexiglass or metal.

Now remember my haunting lesson on test tiles?  Well, there needs to be an entire chapter on test tiles in the world of block prints....but I didn't take that class, did not read that book so I learned that lesson the hard way: experience.

These are the tools used for carving.  One was inexpensively acquired at a craft store, one was a bit nicer and bought at an art supply store and the fancy one on top was inherited (with a sharpening stone) when a friend weeded out her notions.  

Draw out a design and move it to tracing paper so that you can see how it fits on the block.  Remember that what you carve will be reversed when printed so you can flip it over if you want a different orientation.  Transfer to the block either with tracing paper or, on the rubber, going over the design with a very soft pencil and then rubbing that mark onto the accepting surface of the rubber.

Now the fun of carving.  Slow and patient.  It's almost meditative.  Two very important things to remember: you can't easily put back something you cut off AND your design will very likely change slightly as you carve away.  Spend some time thinking about what will show up as ink and what will show as paper.  You can see very faint lines in my paper drawing reminding me what to cut out.

Water soluble printers ink is used and I use a foam tray to roll it out on.  With a brayer (a rubber roller) ink the design.  You may upend the block to print or place the paper on top of it.  I tested both.

This makes it easy for me to use my fingers (or a clean brayer) to press down and be certain that the ink has made contact with the paper in every spot.  Then the paper is peeled back for the reveal:

oh yuck....not a very smooth print but something I have learned is not unexpected with a first run.

So that is just one reason "test tiles" become important...I can see that either I did not ink up enough or I missed the smoothing part.  So above is another test.  On the L I put the paper on top of the carving, on the R I turned the carving onto the paper.  Hard to see the difference on this photo but there is some change.  Notice anything else?  

I don't like my blank parts...they are too smoothly carved out and leave no tell-tale lines which would be more interesting especially around the stars.  I dug too deep in my judgement.  And?  look closely.

Where the mountain intersects the moon is a triangle that missed being carved out!  And ditto for the mountain edge on the far left.  How many prints did I make before I noticed this?  Luckily I can go back and re-carve between prints.

Thank goodness I "tested."  Another interesting test is varying the paper used to print on.  Some are so stiff they don't meet my needs at all, others too flimsy to last.  Finding the right paper is crucial and  one should save that for the last test so that you do not use up all "the good stuff" on bombs.

different papers, note the clean brayer in photo

Like Goldilocks and the three bears, this one is "just right." I made a mental note that I prefer the "white space" to be more interesting in future blocks but otherwise this printed well on the paper I used.  

So I'm like a reformed addict: test! test! my friends...and test again!  no, this is not the end of the story.  For someone who hates "do overs" it is ironic that my word "festina lente" implies a bit of slowness as one gathers steam.  When I explained Maggie's test tile approach (last weeks blog) to a friend, she summed it up nicely: "She goes slow so she can go fast."  Yes! Onward.

GOING SLOW,

Cindy

Please: Try this at home

I hope never to be accused of being an art snob.

Any process, any material, any level of

effort used in the production of visual arts gives me

a good warm feeling.  No judgement should

be made when the process brings pleasure.

And while I firmly believe that mantra I find myself standing in judgement, and thus in the way, of my own creative efforts.  And so I confess.  As I talk the talk I need to remember to walk it.

So please, in the name of "good, warm feelings,"let's try this at home.  I was skeptical...but it really was fun.

I signed up for a "print making"class at the college and was mildly disappointed when the teacher passed around styrofoam trays the first night.  You know, those environmentally horrid picnic plates that are cheap, white and made of styrofoam.  (I save trays beneath meat and prepackaged fruit, but use them as disposable palates for paint. ) See? I was already judging and getting in the way of possible pleasure, shame on me.

trim off the edges so that a flat piece remains

We were instructed to "draw" on the flat side (inside without trademark) of the tray and then go back over the drawing using a ball point pen pressing into the foam to make an indentation.  This would make our first printing plate.  Yeah, right. I confess to feeling that this was a tad elementary and not what I signed up for.

But...I could not have been more wrong: magic unfolded and it was chock full of important lessons.

    

Not only will I do this again, but I will save trays to do this with the grands on a snow day.  If you don't "draw" make swirly lines or geometric patterns.  Change the size of the tray (cuts easily with scissors) and make several smaller stamps to layer on top of each other.  Oh the places you can go!

GATHER:  foam tray or plate

scissors

ball point pen

brayer or wide paint brush

acrylic paint or printing ink

palate to spread paint, can be another plate or freezer paper or piece of glass

paper or cards to print onto

sense of play

I now understand that this simple exercise is done to illustrate

the printing of negative and positive spaces; what we "take away" (via the pen-made indentations)

will actually be the lines that become positive spaces.  What is

left (the areas of foam untouched) will be solid paint

Roll on the paint or ink covering the "plate" as evenly as possible.  Lacking a brayer just use a wide brush to smoothly cover the foam with paint.  You can turn the plate over onto the paper or, easier yet, leave the plate ink side up and gently lay the paper on top of it, pressing evenly over the back of the paper.  You can even smooth it out with a credit card or a clean brayer.  Carefully peel the paper off, holding the plate down and lay aside to dry.

my first print

negative space (the dark green of the paint) is what I did not etch out

with the pen

Another lesson learned here is that the left becomes right and the right left...important to realize if you are using words or want a directional emphasis in the final piece.  The first couple of impressions are not as lovely as those following.  I noticed the bottom edge was raggity and would need further trim.  But hey, not too bad for being a skeptic.

The class oohed and ahhed as prints were made.  Doubters became believers.  We now had a foundation on which to base our next pursuits.  Relative questions could be asked.  Below is a sampling of results (with the artists' permission of course).

Andi is rolling ink onto her cut tray

She places the tray ink side to her test paper and

with a clean brayer gently presses the design onto the paper

holding the paper down she carefully pulls back the styrofoam for the reveal

Anna Lise cut a dog for her first print, see the tray back, use other side

isn't this amazing?  a pro job from a recycled tray, color me impressed

So why don't you find a ball point pen and make a birthday card?  An original.  The cost of cheap paint will be far less than a Hallmark version.  Have fun.  Try this at home.

Carving in Color,
Cindy

p.s. my experiment with leaving comments bombed.  Off to research.....

Never be afraid to try!

 I love new toys...its my weakness: chasing after shiny objects!  so I was game when a fellow artist cleared her closet of a few tools for carving a block print.  Never mind I had never done one before...I already had a major project that needed just that touch. 

So I cut.

 My first attempts at "printing" were not so hot, witness below.  Then I remembered that somewhere I had another toy, a brayer, and if I put the paper on the block (instead of the block on the paper) and ran it over with the brayer....voila!

These were my first efforts: #1 being upper left corner.  Numbers 3 and 4 have some "spots" but I will call those "character" and not toss them.  Now I know why a numbered series of prints is so difficult, imagine how many you have to trash to get a decent amount...and I was only printing once, not several times.

Of course I had to try a new color!  Pretty in pink, no? Now, my concern is that the piece I am printing on is wooden...there will be no way to run the brayer over it.  And I will have to use oil (that's another story) or it won't stick and these experiments were in acrylic.

Oh well, fools run in where angels fear to tread and I am nothing if not a fool...about new toys anyway.

I'll let you know how the eventual masterpiece comes together, or perhaps IF it comes together.