Tim Pauszek Relief Printmaking Workshop

I took Tim Pauszek's relief printmaking workshop on Friday, April 7th, and learned a lot:

Tim Pauszek giving the relief printmaking workshop

at Artisans Santa Fe, in Santa Fe

Possum print from down under

The sample print on the left

is a wood engraving, with fine lines

A poor photo

of a good print by Leonard Baskin

Tools and Inks

Brayers and knives

The PROCESS

Tim drew on the linoleum with a regular Sharpie pen.  This way you will know exactly how the image is going to print:

Drawing the image with a regular Sharpie

Letters will print in reverse.  Tim showed us how to avoid this with a transfer method:  

• One would write the letters with a Sharpie, on a thin enough sheet of paper so that the letters will show through on the opposite side of the sheet.  
• Then he would draw/fill over those letters with a pencil, essentially drawing a solid box that covered the letters
• Next he would flip that paper over, put it on the linoleum, and trace those letters (which are backwards) 
• The pressure of the pencil transfers those backward letters onto the linoleum, by leaving an image in pencil graphite
• Of course this method could be used to transfer any kind of image onto linoleum

Left: small letters in the corner

 covered with graphite on see-thru paper

Right: flipping that paper over and tracing the letters onto linoleum

FINGERS ALWAYS BEHIND THE KNIFE.  Cut away from your fingers, and you will avoid cutting yourself.  But you can control the cut with two hands, as long as both hands are behind the knife:

Cut with fingers behind the knife!

The way to hold the knife is to tuck it in the webbing between your thumb and index finger, however bizarre that sounds.  Resting the butt of the knife in the palm of your hand is ok as well:

The knife should wedge between your thumb and index finger,

which won't fatigue your hand or elbows

There is a straight knife tool in the set, that is made to cut into the linoleum (using a different, cutting grip).  If one outlines the object by cutting around it with the straight knife, he can cut up to the design later, without cutting into the design.  In this way the first outline cut insulates the design.

The same straight knife tool can be used to cut through the linoleum, and to create puzzle pieces.  The advantage of puzzle pieces is that they can be inked with different colors, and put back together before going through the press.  This is an easy way to print two, or more, colors, with just a single run through the press:

Cutting through the linoleum

to make puzzle pieces

To make the illusion of greys, one can cut tight thin lines together (Moiré pattern). These tight cuts can be shallow, as the brayer will not dip into them:

After drawing a tight bunch of lines,

Tim makes shallow cuts between the lines

NOTE:  The cuts have to be DEEP for wide areas of white, such as the white space outside the figure (such as in the possum print above).

The workshop was held in an art store

PAPER

Tim lectured us on the difference between Western and Eastern papers.  Japanese papers such as Awagami are made with long fibers.  Therefore the paper is strong, even though the paper is thin.  If the Japanese paper is wrinkled, it can be wet and straighten out.

Moreover the thin Japanese papers take ink better, so that one can print by hand, with a spoon or a baren.  He does not need a printing press.

The Western papers are thicker, but made with shorter fibers -- such as Stonehenge, Arches and BFK Velin, and Fabriano.  These papers are better used with a printing press:

Top: Japanese papers,

Bottom:  Western Papers

INKS

Tim said that these Speedball inks "dry" by absorption (like the Akua inks), unlike conventional oil based inks.  I believe they are all water clean up as well:  

Tim brought lots of different colors of Speedball inks

Inking two colors

with a large and a small brayer

PRESSES

Tim used the big etching press from Dick Blick

Tim's friend pin striped the printing bed plate

Tim also used the Woodzilla Press:

Tim clamping down on a Woodzilla Press

His Woodzilla Press (A4?) however would not print on an 8x8 inch paper.  It seems that 6x6 inches is the max.

This Woodzilla press would not print

more than 6 inches on it's shortest side

I am wondering if the Woodzilla Press is really that much of an improvement over our Tortilla Press with the Iron Frog Baren.

Tim also printed with his feet, protected only by his socks.  We have been printing with our feet as well, but using the FEZIBO anti-fatigue rocker board:

Right: We printed with our feet

at the El Paso Museum of History

My Print

I made the worst print of the group, but I did learn something:

After I cut, I could still draw over the linoleum

with a Sharpie

to bring out the lines

and see what exactly would print

My free form print

Will made a nice print

The workshop as seen from the cashier

I muscled in on the workshop by hanging four relief prints from Mexico from our Bucket, as part of our continuing BUCKET EXHIBITIONS push:

Showing four relief prints from Mexico

to prime up a BUCKET EXHIBITION

The workshop was held at

Artisans Santa Fe

Josh Orsburn also came in towards the end of the workshop.  He and Tim Pauszek run the Santa Fe Printing House, making prints from their small studio.