Making a Relief Print - continued 6

Once you are happy with the basic print, it is time to decide if the artwork is complete, or if you will be adding color.

For multiple-color printing, a new block would need to be carved for each of the new colors to be added.  The purest form of this is a four color separation.  Red, blue, yellow and black plates would be cut that only print one of each of these four colors.  Planning is essential so that a purple surface would be carved to deposit both red and blue ink on the same paper surface.  The amount of transparency calculated in the ink colors determines the tone of the entire range of colors; the black ink determines the shade.

While I am very intrigued by the four-color printing process, for the time being (and perhaps forever,) I will be printing in one color and adding colors by hand.  Because I also want the added colors to dry non-water-soluble, I have focused on Inktense pencils, FW acrylic inks, and acrylic paints.  While I appreciate the range of colors watercolor paints can provide, they are always reactivated with water; each time water is added, they have the potential to move and change.  Gouache, an opaque watercolor medium, presents the same reactivation issues.

Hand painted iris print  - Printing ink:  Daniel Smith black.  Color added with FW acrylic inks.

One of the advantages of the printing and hand-painting process, is the opportunity to make one image into a variety of final products by changing the colors used for printing, and or painting.  In the iris, for example, a pale lavender iris in the southern spring border, can become a golden yellow iris in the summer garden.

Iris print - Brown Ranger ink and FW acrylic ink.

Notice that not only are the hand-painted colors different, but the printed color is also different from the first print to the second print; both printed from the same block. 

Making a Relief Print - continued 5

The easiest way to do a quick draft print is to remove the cover from a rubber stamp, inked pad, turn it upside down, and thoroughly cover the raised places on the block....these places should be where the original soft graphite lines began.   Once the first print is pulled, use this "proof" to make any additions or revisions to your block.  Of course you can continue to make changes and revisions to your original block until it is no longer printable.  It can "morph" many times. 

 Because this is a one-color print, any additional colors will need to be added by hand.  The artist always has the option of printing on a paper other than white and not adding any addition color.

For those who want to use a relief ink, there are several on the market.  Daniel Smith used to make a lovely, water-soluble ink that, when dry, could not be reactivated with water - ideal.  Unfortunately Daniel Smith has decided to focus only on paints, and has discontinued their ink lines.  Many people look to Speedball inks because they come in a wide range of colors and can be found several places.  I have not found these inks to dry and and stay insoluble, however.

I have recently experimented with a soy-based ink made by Akua.  After printing two weeks ago, the ink-on-paper is still somewhat activated by water, however.  I am very hopeful that it just takes a longer amount of time to dry.

For any of the tube inks, the key is to working the ink to a point where it has the appropriate tackiness prior to inking your block.

Daniel Smith black waterbased relief ink and Speedball 2 inch brayer with handle.

I begin by placing a quarter sized dollup of tube ink on my inking surface.  In this case, it is a new, flat cookie sheet (one that has never been exposed to oils, grease, or shortening, etc.)  Brayers also come in many sizes.  Many people prefer the width of the roller to be slightly wider than the widest part of the block.  Start with one, and experiment as your patience and budget allow.

It is important to roll the ink 15 to 30 times, lifting the brayer at the start of each roll.  A good indicator of readiness is actually the sound of the ink - it's begins to sound sticky.

Once an even layer of ink is on the brayer, begin inking the block.  I re-ink my brayer several times prior to printing, and try to go several directions for maximum and even coverage.   The goal when inking the block is to evenly coat all of the once-graphite-lines; too much pressure and ink will sink below the surface, not enough and all surfaces will not be coated.

Once you have made contact between the inked surface and your paper, there is no going back and inking again.  For each new print, you will need to thoroughly roll your ink prior to re-inking the block; as needed, add more ink and roll, roll, roll.  With a little practice, you will learn the needed consistency and coverage by sight and sound.

Five pulled prints using two different ink colors.  Left, top is Akua plum, right top is Daniel Smith black.  Paper for all prints is Strathmore 400 series printing paper.  Click on the image to enlarge. 

Making a Relief Print - continued 4

I prefer to complete all of the detailed work of carving on both sides of all of the lines first.  Later, I change blades to the U shape, and go after the larger spaces that need to be removed.

Early stages of the carving process - notice the majority of the material removed is on either side of the soft graphite lines.  At the top of the image are four of the five blade shapes mentioned earlier.  The fifth blade, the shallow V, is on the blade handle.  Also notice the size of the pieces that have been removed on the right hand side of the block.  The carving process requires patience and persistence.

Over time I have made more and more effort not to have large, open spaces around any of the outside edges in my drawings.  Even though these areas are carved away, they tend to pick up ink, and thus print, in places that you want to be blank.  In the event that I do have larger, open area on the outside edges, I usually remove all of the material so that there is nothing to pick up any stray ink.

Iris block nearing the completion of carving.  Click on the image to enlarge. 

For example, I am concerned about the area in the upper left hand corner of this block.  No matter how many trenches I carve away, as long as any of the softcut material remains, there is the potential for the highest peaks of these trenches to pick up ink and print.

This block is ready for DRAFT #1 print - let's see how it prints!

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. 

Making a Relief Print - continued 2

Once the soft graphite image has been traced the way I want it, I remove the tape and move the vellum (or tracing paper) to a clean work space.  If there are any revisions or additions to make, this is a good time to do that.  If there is a need to erase, great care should be taken not to smear any of the desirable graphite lines or to wrinkle or tear the shear paper.

Next, it is time to move the material to the place that you will be carving (whether it is the Speedball softcut, linoleum or a wood block.)  If possible, anchor this material so that it is stationery.  Place the soft graphite drawing,that is on the vellum, face down on the softcut block.  If possible, tape the outside edges of the paper to the surface holding the softcut block.  Using parallel pressure, very sequentially apply first vertical then horizontal pressure to the back of the graphite drawing to transfer the graphite material to the surface of the block.  Be carefully not to gouge or dig in fingernails, etc.  Any depressions pushed into the softcut material will negatively effect the reception of the ink AND the appearance of the final print.

It is possible to carefully lift the corner of the vellum to check the completeness of the transferred image.  Continue thoroughly applying pressure until all of the image has been transferred to the block surface.  As you lift the vellum from the surface of the block, the image will be symmetrical to the original sketch:  the original and the block will be mirror images.

From left to right:  block with transferred surface, original sketch (in the background,) and vellum soft graphite transfer.  Notice the symmetry of the block and the vellum images. 

Once you are ready to begin the carving process, move the softcut (linoleum, wood,) material to a location where the surface it is resting on cannot be damaged with the slip of a sharp blade.  Be sure the block can easily be rotated to the left and right - in fact 360 degrees -  to facilitate the carving process.

Most Speedball cutting sets include five blades.  Their shapes include a shallow V, an deep V, and deep U, a straight blade, and a sideways C blade.  Careful selection between these shapes will result in crisp edges for inking.  I usually begin with the shallow V blade and travel along both sides of each graphite line.  The goal is to remove everything that is pink and leave each surface that is graphite in tact.  I work to keep the line between 1/16 and 1/32 so that there is plenty of surface to catch the ink for laying down the printed image.

Close up of the correct angle of the carved line, cutting away material on both sides of the soft graphite line.  

Taking a close view at the cutting level of the block, the V blade allow the artist to carve on both side of the line leaving the line in tact.  Careful planning and cutting  maintains the narrowest portion of the carved "wall" at the top, and the widest part of the wall at the base or bottom.  The advantage of using the V shaped blade is that the blade naturally creates the strongest angle for successful printing.

                                                   

 

Making a Relief Print

Each time I shift my attention to a new medium, there are a a couple of images I revisit.   One of them has been the iris.  The relief cut iris is actually the sixth visit to this stately flower.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this is also a good opportunity to look at the typical steps that are involved in creating a relief print.   There are some basic supplies that you need to begin:

1. Drawing paper - I prefer Strathmore mixed media 400 or 500 - 300 is OK
2. Vellum or tracing paper - the size of the drawing paper
3. Drawing pencil
4. Soft graphite pencil - I prefer 6B
5. Option - Black pen - I prefer Pentel Pocket Pen (has cartridge of black India ink) - a Flare is OK
6. Soft eraser 
7. Speedball softcut block, linoleum, linoleum block, OR wood block
8. Speedball linoleum cutting tools and blades
9. Ink (a stamp pad, like those used for rubber stamps, is fine for a draft)
10. Color  - try what you have first; markers, watercolor, paints, inks, etc. 
11. Option - masking tape or scotch tape
12. Paper you want to print on - a first draft can be pulled on a clean sheet of drawing paper
13. Option - pencil sharpener

 The first step is the creation of a drawing.  If the purpose of my drawing is to eventually do a print, I actually begin with an outline of the block material so that I am not spending a lot of time redrawing and recalculating later.  In the drawing below, you can see the pencil rectangle that represents the shape of the softcut material I plan to use. 

Iris - Steps one and two in the relief print process.  Step 1 - draw an outline of the block material.  Step 2 - make a line drawing inside the rectangular shape, of the image to be printed. 

If portions of the image extend outside of the rectangle, a decision will need to be made later to either adjust the image to fit inside the rectangle or eliminate that portion of the image on the final print.  Sometimes the effect of an image going off the edge of the paper is highly desirable. 

There are several ways to execute the transfer steps of the process.  My preferred way is to tape the thin paper on top of the sketch, then trace my image onto vellum or tracking paper with a very soft graphite pencil; I prefer a 6B.  Even a traditional #2 pencil is often too hard to result in a usable image when trying to transfer the drawing onto the block material.

Iris transfer - 6B graphite on vellum

Note on the "Iris transfer" (above) that the image of the iris is now completely contained within the borders of the rectangle.  This involved making minor adjustments to the drawn folds and lines in the petals of the iris so that it still looked natural, but fits within the space available.  I prefer to tape the vellum in place on top of the original sketch and then complete the tracing with the soft graphite.  I find that I have a crisper image to carve if I keep a pencil sharpener handy and use it often during the tracing process.  (Which means when I make a run to an art supply store, I pick up 3 or 4  lovely 6B pencils AND a rectangular, white eraser [BTW - also a cute, little, carvable substrate for mini-relief blocks.])

Symmetry of Images

Bee print - Daniel Smith black ink on Strathmore 400 print paper.

I always enjoy the effect of placing the first pulled print next to the relief block and studying the balance and symmetry.  Because each relief print is a mirror image of the carved block, placing the print and block in proximity to one another create an intriguing image.  At some point I would like to experiment with printing the original block to a gelli plate, then printing that image to the Strathmore print paper.....that might be my next experimental printing......
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Bee relief block - Speedball easycut, inked with Daniel Smith black ink

Bee print - Daniel Smith black ink on Strathmore 400 series print paper, Inktense pencils activated with water, and FW acrylic inks.

Thanks for your emails  asking about the process I use to make these types of prints.  They are not hard to do with a few simple planning steps and some basic supplies.  In fact, I started relief printing in these smaller sized before I had a dedicated studio.  I discovered that I could spread everything out on the kitchen counter, work for 2 to 3 hours with a very specific plan, complete a basic block, and have everything cleaned up and put away before going to bed.  Except for the occasional renegade shaving, only a savvy art detective would have known I completed an entire block there only hours earlier......(or at least I would like to think that!)