To carve or not to carve, that is the question...

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of engraving a piece of hard wood or Resingrave with sharp chisels... Sorry, Will, that was a little uncalled-for. So, what are my choices?
          I could engrave blocks of Resingrave or wood, plywood or lino, and use either oil or water-based inks, and print on a press or hand-burnish with a baren. So many choices, just the one life. All of these choices are going to be just as difficult for me, bearing in mind the previous injuries to my hands and elbows, so I have to find a way to make and print the blocks that is not going to damage my puny body. The best way I can think of, which will enable me to print on the press and cut down on the carving, is to have polymer plates made up that will replicate the 'key-block' in the coloured woodcut method, and then to cut some lino blocks for the areas of colours. Lino is softer to carve than the other types of blocks. It doesn't hold the detail as well, but that's OK because the detail will be on the polymer.  I may even be able to print some of the images by the reduction method. In my internet searches I haven't come across anyone using the polymer/lino combination, but there is a first time for everything. (Have you tried it? I'd love to hear.) The difficult bit will be getting the correct registration of the lino blocks with the polymer. Well, challenges are good. I'm still not sure about the inks but that will become clear when I start to experiment.
          I re-drew "Tormented..", scanned it in and resized it to the page size of the book, ready to send the digital file to Boxcar in Syracuse. I also decided to have a test plate made with Brioso Italic Light, to try out with the handmade Griffen Mill paper. That way I won't waste too much money if my Prince of Fonts turns out to be a toad after all. The photopolymer plate process 'etches' away the plate in the white areas of the drawing leaving the black areas raised and printable. One of the good things about polymer plates is that you can cut them apart like puzzle blocks and print the parts separately, for different colours. I would really have preferred to make this key-block in the traditional way, but I do want to finish this book before my ninetieth birthday. Here is the cleaned up and re-drawn version of "Tormented by visions of flight and falling"...I have used coloured pencils on the black and white image to

show how it might look. The actual size of this image will be 70 mm high, 55 mm wide, (about two and three quarter inches high by two and one eighth inches wide),  the same size as the book pages. The plates have been processed, I'm now waiting for the US Postal Service to do their bit.

          Here comes a shameless plug for the Fine Press Book Association, our only association of its kind in North America, and possibly in the English-speaking world. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd love to hear of the existence of something similar in say Australia or New Zealand.) Like all great cultural things, it is in need of support in these times of economic hardship. I know, you can't eat it or put it in your tank, but...They say a nation is judged by its culture, so let's make sure we have something left to judge us by when the dust settles. New members and donations welcome.

          The President of FPBA, Bob McCamant, wrote an article for The Caxtonian which was published in June 2008, on interviews conducted with several BC Private Presses. De Walden press is pleased to be included. Fine Press is alive and well in North America. End of shameless plug, thanks for reading, and Many Happies for the coming holiday season.             

  

Baren Hand, Woodblock Elbow.

          Yikes! What have I been doing? The injuries mentioned above are not listed as such in any medical text book, but will no doubt ring a bell with anyone who has ever tried carving a wood or lino block and printing it. I've been experimenting over the past few weeks with various forms of relief printing, using (on left) shina plywood, cherry wood top right, middle right lino, Resingrave bottom right. Along the way I found some wonderful web resources, particularly Baren Forum with informative articles and helpful comments from artists of all kinds, and notably a very open willingness to share their knowledge and experience.

          However, nothing replaces the 'hands on' experience of actually cutting the block, inking it and printing. I've learned so much, spoiled lots of blocks and came to the conclusion that I need a parallel existence for this activity alone. Not having that option, the battle goes on. Some of the tools I bought are too big for miniature work, and I'm now waiting for two 1mm and 1.5mm u-shaped chisels to fly from Japan into my mailbox. Ditto some new blocks from McClains. Sometimes there are too many choices, too much information. I am gradually narrowing it down, but it takes a while to decide how you want your images to look, and how they will fit in with the text. One method that I may decide to use goes by the alarming nick-name of 'suicide block'.

          The reduction print process, aka 'suicide' method, is a process by which the block is first carved so that the first printing reveals the paper colour in the areas you carved away, then re-carved and inked and printed, this last stage being repeated as required, till at the end there is very little wood left. It's called a suicide block because you have to print at least as many prints as you need for the edition (allowing for 'duds') because once you have recarved the block there is no going back. Mistakes at any stage are not recoverable, you would have to start over and carve a new block. There are certain advantages to this method, it can save carving several blocks and can also help with registration. But it does need careful planning and is not suitable for every type of print. Some people use a combination of reduction and multiple blocks to extend the range of colours that can be used.
          I made a very simple print with one shina plywood block to try out this process, using Akua water-based colours, a brayer (ink roller), dry paper and a baren. A baren is a disc-shaped Japanese tool covered with a bamboo leaf wrapper. It is used in a circular motion for rubbing the back of the prints to transfer ink from block to paper. You can also use the back of a spoon, but the structure of the baren is designed to give an even pressure over the whole print, imparting a more uniform appearance. I hasten to stress that this print is not for use in the book, just a practice block to try out the method and materials. I didn't have a small plywood block so used a large one, with a 'ditch' cut around the size I needed. 
          Lots more carving practice is required and thought as to how to work out the colour schemes and printing sequences, as well as the actual images. Registration on these tiny blocks is a challenge. Shown below are the tools I used to carve the block, a knife, a u-shaped chisel and a v-shaped chisel. Also shown are the disc-shaped baren, and the home-made registration jig I use to make sure the block hits the paper in the same position each time. I learned a lot from my experiments. If I intend to use this method, I'll have to print lots of extras to allow for 'uglies' at each stage.

          Tools, blocks, inks and papers come mainly from McClains and Baren Mall (found on the BarenForum site). Both these suppliers are good to deal with in my experience.

          I haven't yet decided on the paper, as it will depend a bit on the images I come up with, and on whether I stay with water-based inks or go for oil-based. I've been trying various Japanese print-making papers, being lighter in weight that their western counterparts. Some papers and inks give a more solid area of colour, others have a more grainy texture. I'm waiting for some more paper samples from another supplier, Graphic Chemical, new to me. As my experiments progess, ideas change so nothing is set in stone at this stage. I may revert to just one or two colours, and I have yet to try printing on my press. I just like to try everything before I decide. (Hint: never go shopping with me.)

          Finally, I read an interview with the author David Mitchell, (Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green), where he describes his creative process in this way: "My books coagulate, very slowly indeed, in a gloppy primordial idea-soup"...

While in no way equating my work with his, the creative process for me is equally slow and amorphous, and inches forward a little at a time. I'm hoping by the time my new chisels and blocks arrive that my arm and hand will have repaired, and in the meantime I'll be working on sketches for the images in the book.