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Brush preparation
Posted by Dave Bull on January 13, 2012 [Permalink]
After a very long break over the year-end, the ladies have all returned to the shop to pick up where we left off in December.
Yasui-san spent the morning printing mats for the Mystique series prints. When I say 'printing' I mean with our Epson ink-jet printer. This is a monster of a printer, which I can barely carry myself. I know this, because that's what I did this morning - brought it down to the workshop from its usual location in the 'office' upstairs. Yasui-san agreed to do this printing job on the condition that she could do it down here ... and regular readers know why!
She's catching up with back-number prints, and will shortly begin preparation for the shipping of print #18, the one I am currently carving. So this part of our news today should technically be over on the Woodblock RoundTable, where my own work is featured ...
While she worked on that, Tsushima-san was busy with 'real' work (meaning actual print production ...). She is going to make an edition of the Plum Blossom print, which is currently out of stock, and which I have back orders for.
But before she can start actually putting pigment on paper, she needs to get her brushes ready. I ordered some new ones for her last month, and today she worked them over on the sharkskin:
They cut down pretty quickly, and here is what the results look like:
The one on the left has yet to be done, and is 'raw' from the maker. The middle one is now a nice 'general use' shape, and the one on the right needs a bit of explanation.
If you look at that print design:
... you will see that there is an ate-nashi bokashi - the yellow area on the moon. For this, she will need a brush that can take a tiny dab of pigment, and gently brush it out into a vague circular shape. So she has shaped this brush to have a bit of a 'point', which will of course be the center of the pigmented area.
She has now started a short test run of five sheets, and once they have been approved and adjusted, she'll begin a normal edition; perhaps we'll run 40~50 sheets.
And I think - I haven't yet discussed this with her - that we might put them on a special spring sale (seasonal blossoms, after all) to commemorate her 'debut' as a true working printer!
Added by: Ian Bertram on January 14, 2012, 12:50 am
So effectively you abrade the brushes to create a shape for a specific inking task?
Added by: Dave on January 14, 2012, 7:24 am
Yes, on occasion. It's certainly not necessary every day, for most normal work, but for this particular job, the special shape will definitely help her get it right ...
Added by: Ian Bertram on January 14, 2012, 7:52 pm
Thanks - it isn't something I've ever thought of doing, but I can see applications of the idea in both painting and monotypes.
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