saint_monkey (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
saint_monkey) wrote2005-11-15 02:02 pm
saint_monkey) wrote2005-11-15 02:02 pm
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Teapot Print, part 3, carving
This is pretty image heavy, so most of it is behind a cut, I hope you don't mind. For the first time, we are venturing into a portion that requires some skill. All that means is this, don't be upset if it takes a few tries, you may need to practice to get it right.
But first, you'll see that we jump from the transferred woodblock from the last entry, to one that has more detail, and since I hate those things where they say "wasn't that easy?" and it's all messed up, and when they show the next picture, their mistakes are all gone, I'll show you what I did to touch up the xerox transfer.
I took another photocopy of the image, and I cut the dark areas out with an exacto knife, and made a stencil. I then lined the stencil up on the block and used a sharpie to color in the dark areas. Here is my stencil:
Now, in order to carve a woodblock, you'll need some woodblock carving knives. There are two types, the European style knives, which have a little knob on one end, and a thin blade coming out from that knob. They are used by holding them in the palm of the hand and pushing the knife away from you. They derive from burins, or engraving tools used in antiquity by the likes of Durer. You can use them if you like, but I find them to be more trouble to use than the Japanese style knives, which are held like a drumstick with the point facing downwards, and are used by pulling the blade back towards your body.
Yes, this is contrary to all the common-sense stuff you've learned about knives, but it works well with Japanese printmaking knives. If the knife slips out of the block, your downward pull doesn't let it go into your wrist or body, but into the uncarved area of your block, or your table.
Because of this, Japanese carving techniques are created in such a way as to protect the image from these slips into the uncarved area of the block, rather than to protect your hands, which are really in no danger. (Now might be a good time to mention that you should have alcohol and band-aids on hand...)
Actually, whenever I've cut myself in the past, it has always been when I "pushed" the knife in the other direction, if the knife slips in that direction, you have far less control, and I've always hurt myself by sticking the blade into the webbing of my left hand, which I use to hold the block steady.
Anyhow, here is the deluxe set of Niji brand student knives. You can buy more expensive sets, but this one runs from $8 to $12 and does the job very well, and will actually stand up to quite a bit of punishment. When buying Niji knives, ask the salesperson to open the packs for you, and look at the points. They should not have chips in them. If they do, do not buy that set. You may have to go through two or three sets this way, but it is essential when buying these student knives, a good set will last a long time, badly made ones won't work at all. (The set in this pic looks pretty good!)
Here is a description of the knives, corresponding to the number I've placed on them in the pic above.
Behind 5-9 is a small rough sharpening stone. You sharpen the Niji knives by rubbing the flat site against this stone. You'll need to sharpen your knives before beginning each block, and perhaps once in the middle. You may never need to do it, but the U-shaped gouge can be sharpened using the u-shaped depression on the reverse of the stone, and the V-Shaped gouge is sharpened with the edge of the stone.
Simple cuts are made in a V shape.
The first cut uses the "to" and traces your drawn line on the wood, and angles into the "white" area that you want to carve away. The second line angles in the other direction, and removes the wood in a small V. Don't angle under your drawn line. This will cause the line to chip away over time.
More complex cuts are made by making a "dam" and then clearing up to it, and then clearing the dam:
The first line is cut, then a "dam" or cut made just short of your second drawn line, which exists to stop your knife from going too far in case of a slip, and ruining the line on the other end. A large area is cleared with a clearing tool, like the u-shaped gouge, all the way up to dam. Once this is done, the dam itself is cleared in the other direction, from the line to the cleared area, and the whole area shaved smooth with the flat planing blade.
(In this picture I'm clearing with the U-Shaped gouge. You can see the dam, it is the first line closest to the blade. There is lots of room for slips before it hits the second line, which is the edge I'm protecting.)
Finally, carve from one corner to the other, complete all your steps for the area you are in, when you move on, the area you've finished should be finished.
This way, if there is a slip, the knife goes into the area you haven't worked with, and not into your finished lines. It is much easier to incorporate a slip into your image, than to correct carved lines that have been ruined.
But first, you'll see that we jump from the transferred woodblock from the last entry, to one that has more detail, and since I hate those things where they say "wasn't that easy?" and it's all messed up, and when they show the next picture, their mistakes are all gone, I'll show you what I did to touch up the xerox transfer.
I took another photocopy of the image, and I cut the dark areas out with an exacto knife, and made a stencil. I then lined the stencil up on the block and used a sharpie to color in the dark areas. Here is my stencil:
Now, in order to carve a woodblock, you'll need some woodblock carving knives. There are two types, the European style knives, which have a little knob on one end, and a thin blade coming out from that knob. They are used by holding them in the palm of the hand and pushing the knife away from you. They derive from burins, or engraving tools used in antiquity by the likes of Durer. You can use them if you like, but I find them to be more trouble to use than the Japanese style knives, which are held like a drumstick with the point facing downwards, and are used by pulling the blade back towards your body.
Yes, this is contrary to all the common-sense stuff you've learned about knives, but it works well with Japanese printmaking knives. If the knife slips out of the block, your downward pull doesn't let it go into your wrist or body, but into the uncarved area of your block, or your table.
Because of this, Japanese carving techniques are created in such a way as to protect the image from these slips into the uncarved area of the block, rather than to protect your hands, which are really in no danger. (Now might be a good time to mention that you should have alcohol and band-aids on hand...)
Actually, whenever I've cut myself in the past, it has always been when I "pushed" the knife in the other direction, if the knife slips in that direction, you have far less control, and I've always hurt myself by sticking the blade into the webbing of my left hand, which I use to hold the block steady.
Anyhow, here is the deluxe set of Niji brand student knives. You can buy more expensive sets, but this one runs from $8 to $12 and does the job very well, and will actually stand up to quite a bit of punishment. When buying Niji knives, ask the salesperson to open the packs for you, and look at the points. They should not have chips in them. If they do, do not buy that set. You may have to go through two or three sets this way, but it is essential when buying these student knives, a good set will last a long time, badly made ones won't work at all. (The set in this pic looks pretty good!)
Here is a description of the knives, corresponding to the number I've placed on them in the pic above.
- 1-4. U-Shaped Gouges, used traditionally for clearing (more on that in a bit,) but they can be used to make water ripples or treebark looking marks. The smallest U-Shaped gouge is the one most likely to have chips in it.
- 5. An awl. I've never used the awl.
- 6-8. The angled knife. The workhorse, used for cutting most of your lines. I Japanese the word for this is "To" and it is pronounced "Toe." Because of this, I call these "Piggies."
- 9-10. Planes. These flat blades are used to carve away the residual ridges left over after clearing. The beveled side of the blade goes towards the wood, otherwise it will dig in too deeply.
- 11-12. V-Shaped Gouges, used for cross hatching, or for fine lines, like hair. These are often poorly made, they should be sharp along both edges of the V. Most often, they are blunt at the base of the V where the edges meet. A properly made gouge will be sharp at that V.
Behind 5-9 is a small rough sharpening stone. You sharpen the Niji knives by rubbing the flat site against this stone. You'll need to sharpen your knives before beginning each block, and perhaps once in the middle. You may never need to do it, but the U-shaped gouge can be sharpened using the u-shaped depression on the reverse of the stone, and the V-Shaped gouge is sharpened with the edge of the stone.
Simple cuts are made in a V shape.
The first cut uses the "to" and traces your drawn line on the wood, and angles into the "white" area that you want to carve away. The second line angles in the other direction, and removes the wood in a small V. Don't angle under your drawn line. This will cause the line to chip away over time.
More complex cuts are made by making a "dam" and then clearing up to it, and then clearing the dam:
The first line is cut, then a "dam" or cut made just short of your second drawn line, which exists to stop your knife from going too far in case of a slip, and ruining the line on the other end. A large area is cleared with a clearing tool, like the u-shaped gouge, all the way up to dam. Once this is done, the dam itself is cleared in the other direction, from the line to the cleared area, and the whole area shaved smooth with the flat planing blade.
(In this picture I'm clearing with the U-Shaped gouge. You can see the dam, it is the first line closest to the blade. There is lots of room for slips before it hits the second line, which is the edge I'm protecting.)
Finally, carve from one corner to the other, complete all your steps for the area you are in, when you move on, the area you've finished should be finished.
This way, if there is a slip, the knife goes into the area you haven't worked with, and not into your finished lines. It is much easier to incorporate a slip into your image, than to correct carved lines that have been ruined.