Boat/Loaf/Moc - a new type of rendering

Last year, just about this time, we were discussing "wish lists" for Christmas.  One of the items I went shopping for was a combo between a boat shoe/loafer/moccasin, to give as a gift.  I had a picture in my mind of what I as looking for based on the chewed remains of what was being replaced.  Since it has been a while since we have had a dog, I forgot how much they seem to enjoy a tasty shoe.

Instead of drawing the image to remind the dog of what the "non-chew" item looked like, I decided to give block printing and inking a try.  In addition to giving the shoes as a gift, the picture was intended to be a pseudo-gift for the "chewer."   Below is the early proof version of my boat/loaf/moc footwear.  This carving and the multiple printing experiments that followed opened the door to a series of carving and printing explorations.

Proof #1 - Boat/Loaf/Moc block print - Lamp black Daniel Smith relief ink on Strathmore/Stevens 400 series print paper.

In college when we were printing, we spent a lot of time soaking the paper in preparation for printing.  Our paper choices at that time were tremendously limited and very expensive.  I have really been looking forward to trying this new printing paper created in a collaboration between Strathmore paper and The University of Wisconsin; Stevens Point.  They have both a 300 series and a 400 series paper.  I am going to move forward without soaking the paper because I am not printing with a high pressure press.  If you look at the first "pull" above, I need to be sure that the ink and paper are making better contact since I am not using high pressure.

Proof #2 - Boat/Loaf/Moc block print - Lamp black Daniel Smith relief ink on Strathmore/Stevens 400 series print paper. 

I applied more pressure to proof #2 and am more pleased with the results.

I am continuing to look for an ink that meets all of my criteria, including safe (no toxins or toxin-based clean-up,) stable once dry even with the addition of water, and relatively quick drying (less than a week!)  In researching inks, three names have come up over and over again, so I will be trying each to see how well they meet the criteria.  The three are Daniel Smith relief, Speedball block, and Akua.

When I was doing some offset printing in Grand Marais several years ago, they used a mineral-spirits based ink (toxins,) but instead of mineral spirits for clean-up, they used Crisco - the solid white shortening in the gallon-sized canister.  (Mmmmm, grandma's pies?????? or perhaps Sunday's fried chicken???)   It was really a mess to get from the "done with printing" phase to the "all clean and ready to go home" phase, but the exposure to toxins was greatly reduced with the Crisco - nice moist hands, as well!  I just don't want to introduced Crisco into my work space........what a mess!!!  I am very hopeful that the Akua meets all of the criteria, because it is a soy-based product.