Posts tagged ‘woodcut’
My Mother’s Hand
It’s a good feeling to finally finish these two mokuhanga prints
and be able to move onto the next project.
The two different text blocks were particularly challenging for me to carve.
Not only was the carving
process tedious and physically painful, but the writing is that of my mothers.
Having to trace and retrace, and then spend months carving her handwriting
was a somewhat cathartic experience.
She was never fond of her handwriting so I found it endearing that
this found poem that she had written down, was done on lined
paper and in her best hand.
After doing an online search, I discovered the poem is actually
a song by Mahalia Jackson. I never heard it, and certainly didn’t know that she liked this song,
but the words clearly had meaning to her.
The silhouette images are of me and my parents
taken from photos that my dad took somewhere around 1960.
Each print is 12″ X 24″, an edition of three and
printed on Nishinouchi washi.
Washi, washi
For the last X number of years,
I’ve been using Torinoko paper exclusively for
my mokuhanga prints.
Despite the finicky nature of it, I kept
right on using it because I had simply gotten used to it.
That, plus it’s reasonably inexpensive.
For the two prints I’m currently working on, I’ve
decided to dump the Torinoko for a while,
and expand my Washi horizons.
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Last weekend, the three blocks
for the first print (of two) were finally ready
to be proofed all together. I hastily mixed up three
values of grey ink and proceeded to proof on Shin Torinoko,
which is a really crappy thin version of Torinoko.
Not good, period.
No photos of THAT will be posted here!
I’m also using my Hon baren for the first time. Lovely as it is,
it has a very different “feel” than the baren that I’ve
grown accustomed to and will require
more practice.
Today, I sacrificed a few sheets
of better quality paper to proof with, Nishinouchi and
Tosa Maruishi.
Both printed nicely. However Nishinouchi is
much too thin to use for this large size image. Once dampened,
it’s very difficult to handle, so that one is out.
I’ll try a few more before I settle on one for the edition, I’ll also
be experimenting with special techniques and possibly
color on these blocks before
I get the edition started.
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Nishinouchi is on top and Tosa Maruishi below.
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This is a proof variation using bokashi (gradation printing)
around the outer edge of the block.
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calendar printing @TLP
Oh it’s a good feeling, not only getting my edition of 100 calendar prints completed in record time, but not having a single one get screwed up in the process. Things were much easier this time, now that we have the necessary bits to lock the jig down to the base of the letterpress. This made a huge difference, in the past the jig would either slide around or lift up at one end when the roller passed over it.
Susan’s expertise was essential at this point
since I had pretty much forgotten
everything that I learned in letterpress class!
Once we got the jig and
pressure issues worked out, the actual
printing went smoothly and I was done
in two hours!
flattened, folded & finished
proofing
stalled….
in my hometown of Toledo!
