We printed from EVA Foam sheets -- with images cut into them with a portable Laserpecker 2 laser cutter -- during the drawing session on August 10th, 2023 at the North Fourth Art Center:
Ellie Weadock's prints
from EVA foam plates
Ellie Weadock inking the EVA foam sheets
CAUTION NOTE: The EVA foam can be laser-cut because it is NOT made of Chloride -- whereas other foamy products might have PVC in them and should NOT be laser-cut. Burning a Chloride product produces Chlorine Gas, which is poisonous, and also hurts the laser cutter.
The portable Laserpecker 2
cutting into 5.5 - 8.5 inch sheets
This was a dress rehearsal for the PRINTERS PLANET Festival on August 13, 2023. I wanted to print original images in real time at the Santa Fe Railyard. After photographing a visitor's drawing, the portable Laserpecker 2 would only take minutes to cut it into EVA foam -- and then we could ink and print on the adjustable Tortilla Press just minutes after that. I even bought a battery, so that the laser cutter did not need to be plugged into an electric socket. The whole draw-to-print process would take less than 10 minutes -- that's a quick turnaround!
HOWEVER I worried about the portable laser cutter tipping over and burning someone's eye, so we did not laser-cut in public in Santa Fe:
ELLIE WEADOCK
Foam Prints
Ellie Weadock's images came out the best of the laser-cut foam plates. She drew them at Henry Morales' studio on August 8th, 2023, and I uploaded photos of her drawings to the portable Laserpecker 2 to cut into EVA foam:
FIRST PRINT
Ellie's portrait of the model
from the August 8, 2023,
photographed and laser-cut into EVA foam
We can easily cut the EVA foam
after the fact,
into the size we want to print
Ellie Wedock's final print came out nicely,
SECOND PRINT
Ellie's laser-cut drawing
into EVA foam
Ellie inking EVA foam
Ellie's final print
from EVA foam
KEN's PRINT
Quick Turnaround
We took a picture of Ken Romig's drawing during that session on August 10, 2023, and laser-cut it into foam, making a print immediately after that -- as a proof-of-concept for Quick Turnaround :
Ken Romig's figure drawing
Inked, ready to print
Ken's print
The process worked, however Ken's drawing had too many grey values to work well. A cleaner line drawing works better in foam, like this one we made from Welsey Pulkka's drawing:
My Figures
The final print
had chunky ambiguous lines
My prints paled
next to Ellie Weadock's prints
Other Laser-cuts
of my drawings
INK
Note about ink: We used Cranfield Safe Wash Etching ink, Carbon Black, in a tube, which has no driers in it. The Cranfield Safe Wash Relief ink, black, has Cobalt driers in it, I believe, and did not feel good when washing them with my hands. Cobalt leans towards toxic:
Usually we use Speedball Professional Relief Ink Super Graphic Black, which works great, and washes up with water. HOWEVER it is impossible to open the can without getting ink all over oneself.
The solution is probably to buy the TUBE -- Speedball Professional Relief Ink, Supergraphic Black, 5 Ounce Tube.
The tube ink would be a lot easier to use during live demos on the Tortilla Press.
A good alternative would be to use an ink stamp pad, and avoid cans and tubes of ink altogether:
- Baby ink pad (skin safe) (extra large)
- Tsukineko k Black, Jet (especially for non-porous surfaces)
3 Gatos Press of Guadalajara were giving temporary tattoos from linocuts:
SUMMARY
We are always looking for quicker and easier ways to make prints -- so that we can easily print in public. Laser cutting EVA foam is cheap and works, when observing the precautions of using a laser cutter.
In the past we have also printed from Expanded PVC Foam (do NOT laser-cut), and Styrofoam plates, which are easier to create, and thus faster to print:
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