Printmaking tips for relief prints or gelli prints

I know this is long, but may be helpful to some viewers who have trouble getting different layers to match up on the paper, plus a few other tips for printing. I put a heading on each section, so you can pick and choose to read what interests you or not. 

Use tape to line up layers 

If you put a piece of tape on the left edge of your paper and tape it to the table or another piece of paper, you can lift it from the plate & turn it over leaving the tape in place while you add more to the gelli plate. When you lay the paper down again, it will be in the exact same position on the plate so additional colors won't be offset. If you want to work on 2 prints, you can tape another paper to the right. 

Make a reusable registration plate to line up layers 

You can make a registration plate that can be used over and over. Cut a piece of cardboard larger than the largest paper you use. Glue two strips of cardboard, each about an inch wide (see the * at the bottom of this post) on top of the large piece of cardboard, at the edges of 2 adjacent sides, creating a right angle with them. The thickness of these strips should be slightly less thick than your printing plate. Add a piece of heavy tape (duct tape, electrical tape, Gorilla tape) on the top of the cardboard strip on the shorter end. Then, from the bottom, add 3 (or more, if that side is long) thin nails or tacks with large flat heads that are long enough to go through your base cardboard, the extra cardboard strip and stick out about 3/8 to 1/2 inch at the top. Space them evenly. Remove the nails and use permanent glue (like E-6000) on them to glue them back in place. After the glue dries, add a strip of heavy tape across the bottom of that area to help hold the nail heads in place.

Sorry, I don't have a photo of one of these because I haven't been doing print-making for a long time. But I created a rough image in Photosho. 

 

 

 

Making 2 small prints on the same paper using a registration plate 

To print 2 prints on the same paper, place your printing plate snugly in the right-angle corner with the short end of the plate against the long end of the registration plate. Place your paper so the nails poke holes in through on the short edge (see the * at the bottom of this post). Lay the paper down over your printing plate and rub. You can remove the paper completely, being careful not to tear bigger holes with the nails, Turn the paper 180º, poke new holes, then print your second print. You can replace the paper on nails for additional colors and it will be in the same place it was the first time. 

Making 1 large print using a registration plate 

 If you have a large plate and want to print only one print on a piece of paper, place the shorter end of the printing plate at the shorter end of your registration plate (see the * at the bottom of this post). If you have a large plate and want to print only one print on a piece of paper, place the shorter end of the printing plate at the shorter end of your registration plate (see the * at the bottom of this post). 

 How long will a cardboard registration plate last? 

A cardboard registration plate should last a pretty long time. You could cover it with a water-resistant coating so you can wipe it clean with a damp cloth. (I use several coats of Min-Wax indoor/outdoor spar urethane, but similar sealants will work.) When I taught school, I had 5 classes of students using c ardboard registration plates for 12-16 days each year and they lasted about 4-5 years. But, you could also make one from wood or maybe thick sturdy plastic that might last longer.

To tranfer the ink to your paper 

 

You can rub the paper with your hands, the back of a wooden spoon, use a clean brayer with a hard or soft roller, or a barren. Other items might work for you.

My ex, who was a printmaker, found an old wooden sock-darning tool. I was roughly the shape of the end of the foot and flat on the bottom to fit into the front of a sock. The curved side fit nicely into his hand to rub the paper with the flat underside. Most sock darners look like a spindle with an egg shape on the end. This one is different. 

 

 

*The distance between your printing plate and the nails on a registration plate will determine the amount of space on that side of the plate between the print and the holes in the paper.  

 

If you want a wide margin around the print, you can temporarily or permnently place another cardboard strip in that corner to place your printing plate further from the holes.

 

 

I was trying to describe this old sock darning tool in a comment on YouTube, trying to distinquish it from a more common tool.

So even though I haven't posted here for years, I decided to post this photo and link it to my YouTube comment.

My ex is a printmaker. In a thrift shop, he found an item similar to the old sock darning tool pictured above and bought it to use instead of a barren to transfer ink from printing plates to paper. He liked it because the part at the bottom of the photo fit nicely into his hand. The under side was flat, which he used to rub paper to transfer ink from his printing plates.

 

Below is a rough image of a registration plate for printmaking. It is used when adding additional colors or images to a print so that everything fits together properly without some layers being offset. This can be made with cardboard, glue, tape, and nails, and if used carefully, will last a fairly long time. A more permanent one can be made from wood or sturdy thick plastic sheets. 

 

Gun Control vs. Planned Parenthood

What do you think would happen if we treated those who wanted to purchase guns the way we treat women who want abortions? (See image at the bottom of the page.)

First, I want to preface this with  ---I would be very happy if there were never another abortion. I don't like the idea of abortions.  I wish that everyone would use birth control or common sense so that unwanted pregnancies would not happen.  However, they do happen and I also believe a woman has the right to choose a safe and legal abortion and that belief was confirmed by a Supreme Court ruling decades ago.

The problem is that the same people who are against abortion are also against birth control, condom distribution, and sex education.  Back in the 1970's Elie Smeal, who was the president of N.O.W., tried to set up a dialog with anti-abortionists to come up with a plan to reduce the number of abortions.  They would not even respond to her appeal to meet to discuss common ground.

A few days ago, President Obama gave a speech about another school shooting in Oregon.  The President was visibly upset and frustrated by routine coverage of such incidents by the media and the lack of sensible gun control legislation which has been blocked time and again by a mostly-Republican Congress.

When Jeb Bush was asked to comment on the killings in Oregon, he responded with "Stuff happens."  How callus can one be to such a tragedy?

I know there are Democrats who oppose gun control, so it is not only a Republican issue. I also know that the majority of NRA members are law-abiding citizens who use guns for harmless target practice or to provide food for their families. I also know that most of the perpetrators of gun violence are mentally ill and we need to address mental-health issues in conjunction with gun control.

Yet, poll after poll shows that most Americans, even NRA members, are in favor of sensible gun control laws.

I see the real problem as the leadership of the NRA that makes senseless arguments against gun control.  Why would they do that after seeing students killed in Columbine High School?  They even scheduled their next convention in Colorado, almost throwing those deaths in the face of the Colorado population. Why would they continue such senseless arguments after all the other senseless shootings, including the one where elementary school children were gunned down in Connecticut?

It might be because the NRA receives the majority of its funding from gun manufacturers and I wouldn't doubt that the NRA leaders get a big chunk of that cash.

We can't ignore that gun-manufacture lobbies and the NRA donate billions to campaign funds to those legislators who continue to oppose sensible control laws.

The NRA leadership says that we should have more guns in schools. They claim that if more people carried guns, there would be fewer deaths from mass shootings.  It's crazy talk.

First, there is the possibility that an innocent third party could be caught in the crossfire. 

There are instances where people have been jailed, not for starting a shooting, but because they happened to have a gun and fired back.  

Norman Williamson is still serving time in Sing Sing 25 years after a shooting, for reckless endangerment for firing his gun only after others had fired first. Police couldn't prove that his shot killed a young boy, Tremain Hall, so he's not in prison for murder. He's in prison for firing the gun after others had fired a gun. 

If someone steps up with a gun to kill the perpetrator, s/he could become a victim.  What's to prevent the police from assuming that any person holding a gun is one of the perpetrators? (Read more HERE.)

Compare the number of annual gun deaths in various countries.  I was surprised there were over 100 in Japan.  I thought 300+ in Germany was a high number.  But compare those numbers to over 11,000 in the U.S., as reported in Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" in 2002.

According to the CDC, in 2013, there were a total of 33,636 firearm deaths in the U.S.  Homicides made up 11,208 or 33% of those deaths. There were 505 unintentional discharges, 467 legal interventions, and 281 undetermined. In addition, 21,175 or 63% were suicides. (More CDC information can be found HERE based on the number of deaths per 100,000 population.)

Notice that there are nearly twice the number of suicides as homicides in this country. Most people contemplating suicide want a quick and painless way to kill themselves. Thus, I wonder how many could be prevented if potential victims didn't have access to guns.  I'm sure many would find another means, but still, I think the numbers would go down.

The Israeli army was able to drastically drop the number of suicide deaths among its soldiers by requiring them to leave weapons at the army base when off-duty, a fact that seems to fly in the face of the claim that more guns in people's hands will prevent gun deaths and suggests that lack of a firearm might prevent some suicides.

I understand that the gun control issue is not clear cut.  A good article at FactCheck.org points out the variables. The article can be found HERE.  It compares Barack Obama's claim that states with the most guns laws have fewer gun deaths with Carly Fiorina's claim that areas with stringent gun control laws have higher gun-crime rates. (Note that the wording is different in Obama's claim and Fiorina's.)

FactCheck.org examines the claims. The causation of gun crime and gun deaths cannot be proved because there are many factors that might contribute to gun violence/deaths including poverty, lower educational attainment, more rural areas that might make getting to a hospital in time to save one's life difficult.

However, overall, the report seems to confirm Obama's claim rather than Fiorina's.

Compare the lack of response to the gun-control issue in Congress to the relentless outcry against Planned Parenthood, based on an edited video created by an anti-abortion group, that contained false information and implications.

The outcry comes mostly from Republican men. They ignore most of the services provided by Planned Parenthood ---breast, ovarian and other cancer screenings, birth control, menstruation problems, infertility, yeast infections, urinary tract infections, STDs, menopause (to list only some of the serves provided.) Those who oppose Planned Parenthood even ignore sexual health services for men, including vasectomies.

In addition, they act as if the money the federal government pays to Planned Parenthood is a giveaway, whereas it is actually reimbursement for health services provided. No federal funds are used for abortions.

At a Congressional hearing, one hapless Congressman put up a totally misleading chart that he claimed came from Planned Parenthood.  In reality it was created by an anti-abortion group. At the bottom of the chart it clearly states "Source: Americans United for Life." Among other things, its figures were incorrect and the chart made 327,000 look like it was a higher number than 935,573. (See the chart and a correction to make it accurate at the link above beginning with "totally misleading.")

So I direct you to "How about we treat every man who wants to buy a gun like every woman who wants an abortion."

Addendum 3/14/16: CBS's Sunday Morning on 3/13/16 the entire program was about guns. I didn't see the entire program, but It can be watched online. 

 They interviewed people in Colorado (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/guns-a-family-affair/) who use guns for hunting and need them for protection on large ranches where they might run into bears or wolves. I have no problem with that. However, I did question the wisdom of teaching children to shoot, some beginning as young as 5. I don't believe a 5-year-old is mature enough to determine if and when the use of a gun is warranted. 

 I do have problems with gun owners who think they need assault rifles and those who don't lock their guns to keep them from children. About 100 children die each year in the U.S. at the hands of other children when playing with guns. I read a news report a few days ago about a woman in Florida who was shot in the back through her driver's seat by her 4 year old who found her gun in the car. The woman was not seriously injured, but she was a big gun advocate who wasn't responsible enough to keep her loaded gun away from a 4-year-old. (Poetic justice, perhaps?) 

 A study was done, putting 2 or 3 12-year-old boys in a room and leaving them alone for a while. If they were curious enough to open a drawer, they would find a gun. Video showed the boys aiming it at themselves or each other. Sensors on the gun showed that 1/3 of the boys who found the gun (unloaded, of course) pulled the trigger enough to discharge it. Half later said they couldn't tell the difference between a real gun and a toy. Those who have shot and killed another child are also victims, some dropping out of school and becoming involved in drug use. (See more here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-other-victim-of-an-accidental-shooting/) 

 The most interesting report (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-australia-dealt-with-mass-shootings/) was about a mass shooting in Australia that killed 35 people in 1996. Within 12 days, the new Prime Minister John Howard convinced the legislature to pass strict gun laws. Excerpts from the CBS report: 

The tough new laws banned the sale and importation of all automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns; forced people to present a legitimate reason, and wait 28 days to buy a firearm; and perhaps most significantly, called for a massive, mandatory gun-buyback. Australia's government confiscated and destroyed nearly 700,000 firearms, reducing the number of gun-owning households by half.

"People used to say to me, 'You violated my human rights by taking away my gun,'" Howard said. "And I'd [respond], 'I understand that. Will you please understand the argument, the greatest human right of all is to live a safe life without fear of random murder.'" 

 In the 15 years before the laws were passed, there were 13 mass shootings in Australia. In the two decades since, there has not been one.  Plus, gun homicides decreased by nearly 60 percent. 

 Locking up your guns and ammunition in separate safes is another regulation, as are surprise inspections by police. 

American lawyer and wine-maker Greg Melick had to part with some of his prized guns in the buy-back. He still owns about two dozen weapons, which he uses for sport, hunting, and shooting pests on his vineyard. 

Melick sees gun ownership not as a right, but a privilege. "I'd be very uncomfortable going back to the way it was before, when anybody could go in and buy a firearm," he said. "It's just bizarre, the number of people getting killed in the United States. And you have these ridiculous arguments: 'Well, people carry guns so they can defend themselves.' 

From Tasmania, to Sydney... we kept asking if there were lessons for the U.S. in all of this. 

 "I am loath to comment," said Loughton [whose 15-year-old daughter was killed in the 1996 mass shooting]. "But my question is, 'How is it going for you over there?' But I can't answer that for you. My heart goes out to all of you over there in America."

Summer of Color 2015 - Week 6: Orange, Orange, Blue

Summer of Color is back.  Click on the "Summer of Color" text link to the left to view entries or to participate yourself.

See my image and others on the Summer of Color 5 Flicker page:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/thesummerofcolor/pool/

This year, instead of giving us three specific colors, Kristin is giving us two basic colors and we are supposed to choose our own shades of those.

For Week 6, we are supposed to choose two shades of orange and one blue. This is the final week of this event for this year.

If you post your images to a blog or to Flickr I can see them. (If you post to Facebook, sorry, but I don't have a Facebook account. Sometimes I can see your images, but I can't comment.) 

This design was started with one of my old abstract drawings done in pencil, which I scanned mainly for the textures, but it is so different from what I started with it might as well have been done completely in digital. Although I often begin with a photo, there were no photos involved in this image.

"Playing with Cool and Warm Textures"
digital art

Summer of Color 2015, Week 5: Green, Green, Pink

Summer of Color is back.  Click on the "Summer of Color" text link to the left to view entries or to participate yourself.

See my image and others on the Summer of Color 5 Flicker page:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/thesummerofcolor/pool/

This year, instead of giving us three specific colors, Kristin is giving us two basic colors and we are supposed to choose our own shades of those.

For Week 5, we are supposed to choose two shades of green and one pink.
If you post your images to a blog or to Flickr I can see them. (If you posted to Facebook, sorry, but I don't have a Facebook account.)

I was playing around with a design a few days ago and knew I wanted to use it this week., but I didn't know what colors would be chosen. So I just used two random colors and figured I could easily change them digitally once the colors were announced. Amazingly, I chose two greens and one pink! I must be clairvoyant.

"The Squares Within"

This design was created from several photos I took at the Portland, Maine art museum. There were 

large openings in the second floor walls that looked down onto the lobby area of the first floor.  

Designs made from varied colored squares were painted on the lobby walls so I positioned myself

so that the painted squares would be framed by the openings upstairs. I knew when 

I took the photos that I would eventually use them to create an abstract design. I overlapped and   

rotated parts of my images until I had a composition I liked. Although the colors were originally

quite different, I changed them to greens and pinks even before I knew this week's colors.