Some time ago I wrote a post about starting out in block printmaking. (a.k.a. “relief printmaking,” the category that includes woodblock prints and linoleum block prints, as well as certain experimental techniques such as cardboard cuts…) Sunday June 22nd I conducted a block printmaking demo at Utrecht- The time is ripe to pass on some more block printing advice. ( If you are just starting out making block prints, I recommend you first read the blog entry of March 9th 2008, “Starting out in Block Printing.” )
Suppose you have experimented with single-color linoleum block prints, and you would really like to incorporate more color into your images. There are a number of ways to go about this. Let’s not neglect the obvious route: you could hand-color your images using watercolors or gouache. (This is time consuming, some might say tedious, but some artists get very good results with hand-colored prints. It can also be a good way of seeing the same image in multiple color schemes.) You could also cut stencils to mask out certain areas of your image, and use your brayer to roll ink directly on to your print. Or you could use a small brayer to hand-ink certain portions of your linoleum block, and thus get more than one color from a single block. (This technique works best either on blocks where the different areas of color are well separated from one another, or else on blocks where precision is not necessary.) The Expressionist artist Edvard Munch used to cut a block of wood into pieces like a jigsaw puzzle, ink each piece separately, then reassemble them and print them all at once. He achieved very bold, powerful results with that method.
However, the traditional means for achieving multiple colors in a block print is by carving a separate block for each color that will be used, and printing them one layered over the other. (This does not have to be as complicated as it sounds.) If you would like to try this technique, I would suggest that you start simply. Just two colors, used together, can often produce a very dramatic look. (Later, if you choose to, you can do exceedingly complicated prints with a dozen colors! Myself, I keep things simple and use no more than four colors.)
When you are working with multiple colors, registration (making sure your images are lined up correctly) becomes very important. To avoid headaches, you want to plan for it from the beginning. Make sure that your blocks are the same size, because if they are a little bit off it will be difficult to register them. (If you should happen to have blocks that are mismatched, you at least have to find one side that matches, and consistently line them up from that side.) If one of your blocks will be a line drawing and the other will be a colored background, carve the line drawing first. (If neither of your blocks is a line drawing per se, just carve the block first that has the greatest amount of “information” on it.) The first block then serves as a guide for the second block: When the first block is completely carved, ink it up and make a proof of it and make sure it looks the way you want it to. Then, make a very inky proof onto thin paper. Carefully lay that proof face down onto your blank, uncarved block. Burnish it thoroughly with your baren or spoon- when you lift the paper you will find that the ink has transfered to the blank block. That image will be your guide so that you know what to carve away and what to leave.
How do you know if your prints are lined up correctly? Well, you need to make yourself a registration guide. Traditional Japanese printmakers used to use blocks that were larger than the paper that they were printing on, and would carve notches directly on the block that indicated where the paper should be placed. Other printmakers make various forms of registration guides… sometimes just lines traced on paper, sometimes substantial wooden frames with pins or clamps to hold the paper in place. I have a version of a registration frame that is low-tech and devilishly simple. (I like to say it is “top secret” and “copyrighted” but I teach it to just about every printmaker I meet.) All you need is:
a piece of cardboard (the size of the paper that you are printing on or a little bit larger)
an X-acto knife (and a metal-edged ruler to serve as a cutting guide.)
a pair of bulldog clips
The cardboard is exactly the size of your printmaking paper. Cut a hole in it that is exactly the size of your printmaking block, exactly where you want it to be placed on your paper. That way, when you ink your block and set it in place, it will not slide or go anywhere. You clamp your paper in place with the bulldog clips, so it will not slide or go anywhere either. Then–here’s the extra-tricky part–you can print two blocks in quick succession without ever unclamping the paper. Just gently lift the paper, remove one block, replace it with the second inked block, and lay the paper back down. Burnish your second block with your baren, lift the paper again, and–congratulations!–you have a two color print.
Happy printmaking!
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Alexis Babayan
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