23 January 2006

Inking Through a Stencil

I finally found some time over the past weekend to do some printing. After printing the first "Loosen the Knots" block in a light green, I used a stencil to apply round areas of violet. Here's the ink being applied to the block through the stencil:

And here's how the block looks when the stencil is removed:

I found that if I used a fair amount of rice paste, the circle edges remained quite crisp:

And if I used water only, no paste, the edges were very soft:

Then I used another stencil to apply a blue pigment:

It took one full day to get to this point with a run of 20.

2 comments:

Mike Lyon said...

How very interesting! Of course, I like the softer edges better -- wish they were even SOFTER -- how about stenciling onto a damp(er) block, then brushing the edges to create a nice bokashi? OR How about dampening the block through the stencil, then a dab of pigment in the center, then brushing the bokashi through the stencil? Never considered this particular stencil application -- nice result!

-- Mike

Anonymous said...

Hi Annie,

Another way, that I like, is to ink the block then drop the stencil on top. Leaving then stencil in place then print. The effect of this is to create a defined edge. The ink under the stencil will squish up at the edge under the pressure of printing. If you use a plastic stencil the edge will be pronounced. If you use a paper (stong washi) stencil the edge will be quite soft. If you apply a touch of colour to the back lip of the stencil you can create a blurry edge.