In order to make my “Enlightened Monsters”, I opted to do a series of high-relief prints.
First, I drew the designs using my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen in my pad. The pad is a typical Moleskine.
These designs were then scanned into Photoshop, where I maximized their contrast before using the “Stamp” filter to get a pure black-and-white image. This allowed me to clean up the image and refine it (for example re-doing the heavy outlines on the Cthulu-Buddha).
Third, the images were printed out by a laser printer. This is important because I needed to transfer the image onto my linoleum (actually, Utrecht Easy Cut) blocks to carve. Laser printers – like photcopiers – make their images by depositing toner, as opposed to ink. By rubbing acetone onto the block, placing the image on top, and then rubbing more acetone on, the image can be transferred off the paper and onto the block. Then, once that acetone dries (which is, unsurprisingly, pretty quick) it’s ready to carve.
One of the lessons I learned early on in my experiments with this technique was that the edge between black and white – positive and negative – on the carved block has to be as close to 90 degrees as possible. Otherwise, the embossing in the paper (more on that in a second) was too soft and murky. This means that the first step in carving the block was to use a straight-edge blade to carve each line. The other carving tools are just used to pull the negative out.
Once the block is ready, it’s time to prep the paper and ink it.
The paper needs to be moistened so that it will distort into the negatives of the block, which is accomplished with a simple spritzing of water.
Next, the block is inked with oil-based black ink. Obviously it needs to be oil-based so that it wont diffuse into the moist paper.
The paper is placed onto the block. The moisture helps it stick solidly to the block. Before using the presser to uniformly press it in, I use my fingers and a smaller tool to push the paper as much as possible into the crevices. Only afterward do I use the presser.
High-relief printing
In order to make my “Enlightened Monsters”, I opted to do a series of high-relief prints.
First, I drew the designs using my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen in my pad. The pad is a typical Moleskine.
These designs were then scanned into Photoshop, where I maximized their contrast before using the “Stamp” filter to get a pure black-and-white image. This allowed me to clean up the image and refine it (for example re-doing the heavy outlines on the Cthulu-Buddha).
Third, the images were printed out by a laser printer. This is important because I needed to transfer the image onto my linoleum (actually, Utrecht Easy Cut) blocks to carve. Laser printers – like photcopiers – make their images by depositing toner, as opposed to ink. By rubbing acetone onto the block, placing the image on top, and then rubbing more acetone on, the image can be transferred off the paper and onto the block. Then, once that acetone dries (which is, unsurprisingly, pretty quick) it’s ready to carve.
One of the lessons I learned early on in my experiments with this technique was that the edge between black and white – positive and negative – on the carved block has to be as close to 90 degrees as possible. Otherwise, the embossing in the paper (more on that in a second) was too soft and murky. This means that the first step in carving the block was to use a straight-edge blade to carve each line. The other carving tools are just used to pull the negative out.
Once the block is ready, it’s time to prep the paper and ink it.
The paper needs to be moistened so that it will distort into the negatives of the block, which is accomplished with a simple spritzing of water.
Next, the block is inked with oil-based black ink. Obviously it needs to be oil-based so that it wont diffuse into the moist paper.
The paper is placed onto the block. The moisture helps it stick solidly to the block. Before using the presser to uniformly press it in, I use my fingers and a smaller tool to push the paper as much as possible into the crevices. Only afterward do I use the presser.
The end result is pictured here.