RELIEF

Materials

1. Birch plywood 9" x 12" or photopolymer plate

2. Newsprint paper

3. Elmers glue

4. Elmers wood putty

5. Textured materials

6. X-acto knife

7. Gesso

8. Tracing paper

9. Red pastel pencil

10. Fine sand paper

11. Paper

a. Goyu

b. Hosho

c. Mulberry

12. Original composition

13. Negative transparencies

Color Woodcut

George Roberts

Techniques

1. Cuts

a. Black and white line

b. Black and white textures

2. Pounded shapes and textures

3. Half tones

a. Wire brush

b. Cut textures

c. Pounded textures

4. Pressed drawing

5. Shaped block

6. Electric stippler

7. Dremel tool

8. Wood burning

9. Wood putty

10. Negative transparencies for photopolymer plates

a. Computer generated

b. Handmade with India ink

c. Photo copied

Preparing the Wood

1. The woodblock must be prepared before you begin to cut the wood. Mix one part shellac with three parts alcohol and paint it on the wood.

2. Paint a thin layer of shellac over the entire wood block. Allow the shellac to dry and sand the wood block with fine sand paper. You will notice that the grain is raised after the wood has been painted with shellac. Sand the block until it is smooth.

3. Paint three layers of shellac on the wood and sand each layer. Even after the third layer is on the wood the shellac should thin and soaking into the wood. If you put the shellac on too thick it will be hard to sand smooth and it will not soak into the wood.

Transferring a drawing to the wood

1. Trace your drawing using a colorful pastel pencil. We use a colorful pastel pencil so that the original drawing will not be obliterated by repeated proofing.

2. Lay the tracing face down on the wood and tape it in place so it will not move.

3. Using a wooden spoon rub the back to the drawing. Be thorough with the rubbing so that every mark is transferred to the wood. You can check your progress by lifting one corner of the tracing paper.

4. Once the drawing is transferred paint a layer of shellac on it to protect it.

White Line Relief Cuts

1. The basic method of cutting with a wood cut tool is to cut white lines. Hold a U or V gouge wood cut tool in the palm of your hand and dip the tip into the wood while pressing forward just slightly. At the same time lower the tool until it begins to move forward. Maintain the angle of the tool when it began moving forward cutting the wood. If you continue to lower the tool it will come up out of the wood and stop cutting. If you hold the angle of the tool too steep it will cut deeper into the wood but not move forward.

2. Practice cutting one to two inch long white line in the wood until you feel comfortable making controlled cuts. If you have to push too hard to get the tool to cut it is either dull or you are trying to cut too deep.

3. To cut a curved line move the wood rather than your cutting arm. By doing so you will help maintain the proper angle of the tool and be able to make a continuous cut. If you find yourself moving the tool from side to side while cutting you are trying to cut too deep. There is no need to cut deep. Even a shallow cut line will print white. If the cut needs to be deeper make several cuts one over the other.

4. Do not place your hand in front of the wood cut tool. Should the tool slip it would make a nasty cut in your hand. Use a cutting block to hold the wood and avoid the problem all together.

Black Lines

1. To create black line preplanning is necessary. For a line to appear black the area around the line must be cut away so it appears to be a white ground on which the black line exists. Draw several intersecting lines on your wood. The task is to cut everything else away but the lines.

2. Cut away from the intersecting line so that there is no danger of slipping and accidently cutting a line. The cuts do not have to be deep.

3. In order for the lines to appear black they must have a white background. That means just cutting between the lines is not enough. Cut a fair amount of the wood around the lines as well.

Pressed Drawing

1. Marks can be made in the wood by using a hard pointy object like a dry point needle. Simply press the dry point needle into the wood and drag it along as if you were drawing. When you are dragging it across the wood you are creating an indentation which will print as a white line, but a white line with a difference. The white line will have a softer edge to it.

Pounded Shapes

1. Images do not have to be cut into the wood. They can also be pounded. The technique is simple. Select a hard small object like a paper clip or coin. Place the paper clip on the wood and using a hamper pound the paper clip so that it makes indentations in the wood. Its that simple.

2. If you want more accurate pounded shapes like a metal screen you must use a modified pounding method. Instead of pounding directly on the screen with a hammer place a piece of wood on top and pound on the wood. Using this method even pressure will be applied to the screen and the impression will be more accurate.

3. Be creative, any hard small object will do.made in the wood by using a hard pointy object like a dry point needle. Simply press the dry point needle into the wood and drag it along as if you were drawing. When you are dragging it across the wood you are creating an indentation which will print as a white line. The white line will have a softer edge to it.

Half Tones

1. Half tones in a relief print are the product of an optical illusion. Grays are not actually created. What occurs is that small black and white marks are made that when seen collectively appear to be a gray tone. The half tone above was created using a wire brush.

2. To make a simple half tone take a dry point needle and stab the wood repeatedly. You will be creating many small white dots. The more concentrated the white dot the lighter the area will appear. The more dispersed the dots the darker the area will appear.

3. Any type of cut, pounded mark, or pressed mark can create half tones.

4. You can also wear away the grain of the wood to create half tones. Using a wire brush rub it repeatedly with the grain of the wood. The wire brush will wear away the softer grain of the wood and create a half tone.

5. The electric stippler also works well to create half tones.

Electric Stippler

Other Tools

1. A wood burning tool makes an excellent relief tool. Instead of cutting or indenting the wood it burns it.

2. Electric Stippler makes a good relief tool. When you use it do not press it hard against the wood. Pressing it hard defeats the purpose of the tool. The tip of the stippler is bouncing up and down very rapidly poking holes in the wood. To Use it effectively press it lightly against the wood and move it as if you are drawing. The effect is to get a line of little holes that translate into white dots when printed.

3. The dremel tool works well to wear away the wood. It consists of a turning head like a drill which holds a bit that has an abrasive tip. To use it just turn it on place it against the wood and draw. The portion it wears away will print white.

Shaped Block

The wood block does not have to be rectangular in shape. It can cut be cut into any shape or number of shapes. The shaped block an be printed separately or together. There is no limit as to what shape or shapes the wood can be cut into. The only limitation is your imagination and the appropriateness of the shapes.

Wood Putty and Modeling Paste

1. Wood putty and modeling paste can be used to fill cut areas that are mistakes or no longer wanted in the print. Over fill the cuts with the wood putty and allow it to dry. When it is dry sand the wood putty until it is level with the wood. When printed the area will be black once again.

2. Wood putty and modeling paste can also be used to create positive marks and images. To do this apply a thin coat of wood putty to the area you wish to change. While it is wet press a texture, say burlap, into the wood putty using a flat board so that it will be pressed in evenly. Carefully peal the texture from the wood putty. When it is dry sand the surface using a sanding block. If you do not sand it only the highest tips of the wood putty will print. Sand the wood putty until the surface texture is uniform, yet do not sand so much that the wood putty is removed from the surface or the texture will be obliterated.

3. Any time something is added to the surface of the wood a halo will appear around the raised area when printed. The reason for that is the brayer cannot roll ink at the edge of the texture since it is been held off the surface by the raised wood putty.

Collagraph Relief Techniques

1. To obtain a raised and lower surface to print relief style it is not necessary to cut the relief portion away. Material can be glued to a piece of mat board to gain the relief. Textured materials, sand paper, wrinkled aluminum foil, string and many other fairly thin materials can be glued to the surface of a mat board. Modeling paste and wood putty can also be used to create a variety of surfaces. The only restriction is that there should not be too great a difference in the height of the materials being glued to the surface. If there is too great a difference in height the lower texture and surfaces next to raised areas will not print.

2. Once all of the materials are glued to the surface they need to be varnished. The varnish seals the surface so the ink will not soak into it during printing. It also makes clean up easier. Several thin coats of varnish are better than one thick coat.

3. The collagraph relief plate is printed the same as a wood cut.

Printing a Relief Print

Equipment needed

1. A piece of glass

2. A brayer

3. A putty knife

4. A wooden spoon

5. Paper, Hosho, Goyu or Mulberry

6. A sponge or brush for clean up

7. Graphic Chemical water soluble relief ink

8. Graphic Chemical water soluble vehicle

Preparation

1. Cut your paper to size. The paper should be at least two inches larger than the block of wood.

2. Using a putty knife place a teaspoon of water-based ink on the glass.

3. Add a 10% by volume of vehicle to the ink and mix the two together using the putty knife. When the ink is mixed spread it out the width of the brayer.

4. Roll out some ink evenly with the brayer. Do not roll through all of the ink. The rolled out ink should have a velvety texture and make a little noise when rolled out with the brayer.

5. Cover the brayer completely and evenly with the ink.

6. Roll the brayer across the woodcut. Do not push down on the brayer. Let it roll across the wood under its own weight. Roll it in more than one direction and roll repeatedly across the some area. The brayer will run out of ink quickly so go back to the glass and roll on some more.

7. Take your time inking the wood block. Make sure it is inked evenly. If you look at the surface at an angle you can see the texture of the ink on the wood and can observe whether it is even across the entire block.

8. Place the paper onto the inked woodcut. Rub your hand across the paper from the middle to the edges so it sticks to the ink.

9. Using a wooden spoon rub the back of the paper to cause the ink to be absorbed by it. Rub in several directions to be sure the ink is evenly distributed on the paper.

10. When you pull the paper off the wood the surface should be even and black. If you see spoon marks you have been too careless rubbing with the spoon. If the surface is gray and not black you had too little ink on the block or did not rub hard enough. If some of the white lines are black with ink you have put too much ink on the block.

11. Check the progress of the printing by lifting a corner of the paper.

Print Clean Up

1. When you finished printing clean up.

2. Take your wood block to the sink and using water and a brush or sponge wash the ink off the wood.

3. Take the brayer to the sink and using water and a brush thoroughly clean the ink from every part of the brayer. Follow the rinsing with a washing using soap and water. All the ink must be removed.

4. Scrap the excess ink off the glass using the putty knife. Clean the putty knife with water and put it away. Bring the glass to the sink and clean if with a sponge and water.

5. Clean the sink of all ink that has been washed into it.

Color Reduction Print

George Roberts

REDUCTION BLOCK INSTRUCTIONS

1. Start with a carefully prepared drawing, photograph, collage or computer generated image. Transfer the image to the block using either carbon paper, toner transfer method or some other transfer method. Shellac the block so the drawing is permanently on the block.

2. First Cuts

The first cuts should only cut away areas you want to remain white. Once they are cut print the block as an edition of 6 or 8 using a light gray or tan. Cut a little variation and texture so this portion will be visually interesting.

3. Second Cuts

The second cuts are made after the first cuts are printed. These cuts should remove all the areas you want to remain light gray or tan. Cut some variation and texture so this portion will be visually interesting. When you have finished cutting away the light grays print the block using a medium gray or tan. Print all 6 or 8 prints.

4. Third Cuts

The third cuts are made after the second cuts have been printed. Make these cuts in all areas you want to remain medium gray or darker tan. Cut a little more variation and texture so this portion will be visually interesting. When you have finished cutting print the block using a brown. Print all 6 or 8 prints.

5. Last Cuts

The last cuts should create the greatest detail and pull the whole composition together. Print these last cuts with black ink.

6. Registration of the different cuts is accomplished using the pin method on the block itself. Therefore, the image should be one inch shorter than the block, or 9" X 11".

7. The pin method of registration consists of using two push pins to make two holes at the top of the block. When printing, the paper is placed on the block and the push pins are inserted through the paper and into these two holes. The pins hold the paper in place so each color is printed on top of one another in exact registration. After the first print the holes will also exist in the paper. To keep the holes in the paper from enlarging, tape a piece of masking tape over the holes and reinsert the pin, pressing it through the tape.

Pin Registration

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