PRINTMAKING
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Printmaking Article 1 By Carol Meis Ellington http://www.bellevueartists.org/Gallery/ellington.htm Printmaking can be the most frustrating process and yet the most gratifying when you have finally achieved the end result, the finished print. A college instructor once told me that most printmaking departments were located on the ground floor or lower levels to keep frustrated printmakers from jumping out of windows. For me printmaking is the ultimate challenge because it’s open to many possibilities and interpretations. The cutting of a wood block or the etching of a plate is as important as the finished piece. To begin a woodcut, I usually have my idea drawn out, and mark where my light, medium, and dark values will be on my drawing which will give me a guide to work from. Then I make a tracing of my drawing on tracing paper so I can reverse the image on the wood. After the tracing is taped to the wood, insert a piece of carbon paper between the tracing and the wood so the drawing can be transferred to the wood. Remember that your drawing will be reversed on the wood so the finished print will read in the right direction. I remember seeing a beautiful etching of a poem someone did that was ruined because they forgot to reverse the image making a transfer to the plate. You needed a mirror to read the finished print because it was backwards. For a beginner, I recommend making a small inked sketch to help guide you so you don’t accidentally carve away an area you need for your print. Once everything is transferred you are ready to cut away or engrave marks into the wood. Pine would be a good choice to start with and you can experiment with other woods later. Make sure your cutting tools are sharp and that you always cut away from you. After the cutting is finished you are ready to ink the wood using a brayer or roller and make a proof print which I usually do on newsprint. A small amount of black ink is put on a glass or plexi sheet to roll out the ink which is used to evenly cover the wood surface. Water based inks can be used, but I prefer the richness of oil based relief inks. After making a few proofs and needed changes if there are any, I am ready to print an edition. The block can be printed using a press or by hand using a barren or wooden spoon to transfer the image on the block to the paper. There are many fine papers to choose from. Since I print by hand, my editions are small. To be part of an edition you are looking for prints that are equal to each other in the printing. For example if you printed six copies, four which match and two that maybe lighter or darker than the four; your edition would be four prints. The prints are then signed and numbered such as 1 / 4 which is the 1st print out of 4. When finished printing clean the ink off the block, glass sheet, and the roller with water for water based inks and kerosene for oil based inks. Save the prints that don’t become part of an edition as you may have use for them later. Happy Printing
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