This is a triple experiment, really. I used a sheet of Japanese carving vinyl rather than the wood or lino previous pieces were done on – it’s extremely nice to work with, except that I occasionally find myself carving too deeply and going right through. Not by accident, it’s a lot like the softwood panels I used for others, but without a grain.

Secondly, I used pre-moistened paper (not soggy, just moist – I used a plant mister) to see what effect that has. The answer is basically that it doesn’t, apart from making the paper a bit more tractable and less inclined to curl.

The third experiment was in using a proper (if cheap) baren, rather than rubbing it with the back of a spoon as before. It’s physically easier and less painful to use, and has a nicer tactile quality – though when the guides say to rub with the grain of the baren covering, not against it, they really mean that.

For this one, I decided to try cutting out areas to leave a raised line, instead of gouging out the lines of the design as before. It’s harder work, but a lot of fun, and I can see it gives more opportunity to use the wood’s nature.

Lessons learned from this one – firstly, that printing from wood really isn’t the same as printing from lino. Having a solid block rather than a flexible piece of lino to work on is good, but it also leaves me open to edge effects. I also need to use quite a bit more ink than I think I do.

Second, if I’m going to leave a gutter and a non-printing area at the edge, I need to make the gutter quite a bit larger. The square frame above was intended that way, but didn’t work out.

I’ve been playing a little with relief printing, and I’m enjoying it immensely so far. This is my first piece. It’s actually the second impression I took off the first block I made, but since it’s my favourite of the edition (of three) this is what I chose to upload.

The paper is Velin Arches, and the ink is water-based lamp black from the Graphic Chemical & Ink Co.