Making a Relief Print - continued 3

There is a tendency in the carving process to undercut the soft graphite line.  When looking at the undercut block, the image initially looks the same, however the problem comes when pressure is added to the inked block.

Undercut soft graphite line. 

Notice in the image above, the width of the soft graphite line, transferred with pressure added to the back of the vellum transfer paper, stays in tack.  Without the support of the walls, however, the outermost edges of the line tend to collapse when inked and/or when any pressure is added in the printing process.

Impact of pressure added to undercut soft graphite line.

When part or the length of the wall collapses, the integrity of the printed image is compromised.  It is likely that the final image will be unacceptable to the artist.  Notice in the image above, the only part of the soft graphite line that will allow the ink added to transfer to the print paper is on the upper right hand side.  From the middle of the line through the entire left hand side, so added ink will transfer to the print paper.  In fact, the more pressure is added to try and capture the full line, the less likely the full line will print.