cut 5

Cut 5: running poster

Background

This is actually the print that made me want to get into linocut printing. A Christmas gift for my wife & kids.

Ok, I got some better prints from this one.

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— Steven Hicks (@pepopowitz.bsky.social) January 2, 2025 at 8:42 AM

Outcome

Very happy with the carve. Moderately happy with the design-—I think I could have done better with the letter work, I kind of gave up in the name of time and just traced a font. Moderately happy with the print, as I eventually got some good solid black, though I again struggled with ink amount and pressure.

Learned along the way

• Still struggling with ink amount & pressure, though I think I did get better. Literally zero pressure beyond gravity on the roller seems to work best, though even this oil-based speedball ink seems to get sticky and dry on the inking plate before the third print, and then I get in trouble from overcompensating.
• Once things did get flooded, I was able to clear it by spraying water on the block, and burning a print on crappy paper to suck the ink up.
• Pure acetone transfer worked much better than the "rejuvenating" nail polish remover I'd previously used.
  • I still have issues with the paper wrinkling though as I try to rub it while wet with acetone.
• I improved my jig more. I added a trimmed out layer of newsprint hinged in one direction, to cover everything except the print itself (because I am clumsy at inking). I added the ternes burton pins from the other direction, and attached tabs to a bunch of sheets before inking anything.
  • In general I think I'd do well to take more time for this kind of preparation instead of trying to jump right into things.

Next time

• Use a roller on the acetoned paper for transfer, to see if that's better and less susceptible to warping/wrinkling.
  • Also, probably don't go as heavy as I've been going with the acetone. I've been thinking the presence of acetone itself was handling the transfer, but I think I'm missing contact with the plate while the acetone is present.
  • Future Steve: I did both these things and the transfer turned out incredible.
• Try some extender to see how that affects the ink drying.
  • Can I mix a water-based extender with an oil-based ink? Gonna find out.