Today I decided to take a break from everything to pull some proofs. I got, like, one really nice print out of it, but more importantly I got the taste of printing back in my mouth. And I like it.
I decided to document some of the block printing process for those who don’t know much about it, and because I find it unusually exciting. Block printing starts with a block (see my previous post) of wood, linoleum, potato — whatever — into which you carve a relief design, with the raised area being the printed area.
On an inking plate (a big sheet of glass or metal), I mix my ink colors and ink the brayer by pulling out a bit of the ink with the brayer and rolling the brayer in the ink, first one direction and then perpendicular to the first direction to get a nice, even coat. Inking is my favorite part of the printing process, and here’s why: when you do this, it makes a nice sticky sound, not dissimilar from that of latex paint being rolled onto a wall, and thus — to me — it is the sound of impending color. Ahhhh.
Once I’ve got a nice coating of ink on my brayer, I ink the block using a similar technique as for inking the brayer. The first inking of the block is an exciting moment, when I get to see beyond the pencil lines and cuts, and for the first time get a true idea of what my print is really going to look like (only in mirror).
And now we’re ready for some press action.
Now don’t laugh. This particular press is all I could afford, and although now I could start saving for a magnificent letter or intaglio press, I don’t have anywhere to put it. So while it may seem like glorified stamping (or maybe it’s just me and my printing press inferiority complex), it still makes a nice print.
This part is like making a sandwich, and even outside of my persnickety sandwich-making/eating universe, there IS a particular way to stack it. In my little Speedball press there is a foam pad built into the bottom (in a traditional press you would use a thick blanket, and the stack would be reversed); I position the paper on top of the foam, then place the block on top of the paper — ink side down — being very careful NOT TO BUMP IT once it’s made contact with the paper. Then we press it — HARD!
Finally, the moment of truth: lifting the block away from the paper (using a sort of slow peeling action so as to avoid smudging) to reveal The Print.
Now these first prints I made are proofs, so over the next few days I’ll go back and forth and tweak the block a little, pull some more proofs, maybe do more tweaking — all until I’m pleased with the printed result. Then I’ll be ready to run an edition of final prints, in this case, cards.