Holiday Gift for Co-workers

Christmas Wish List

Ink:
Daniel Smith Oil Relief Ink Set to add some color to my prints.

Blocks:
Shina Grab Bag to try some wood meant for printmaking.

Wood Burning:
Needle Point Replaceable Tip to use for very fine detail or textures.
Small Calligraphy Replaceable Tip to try for text - if I can write calligraphy in reverse.
Micro Replaceable Tip for small lines.
Replaceable Tip Handle to ease switching between to tips.
Ultra Flex Cord to try instead of the heavier cord I have now.

Magnification:
Two Arm Table Lamp and Magnifier
Lens Power Booster

How to Ink and Wipe a Wood Pyrograph Plate for Intaglio

The following techniques have been working well for me. They are based on the techniques of others I have read for wiping etching or drypoint.

1. I spread ink across the plate using a plastic putty knife or a credit card making sure to press into lines.
2. Scrape off excess ink with the putty knife or credit card.
3. Wipe with phone book pages until clean. I use a page folded into quarters wrapped around an object with a flat surface - for me it is a plastic canister of toothpicks. Using my hand to wipe with phone book pages, I found I pulled ink out of wider lines.

Sunflowers, Relief

Plate type: Wood Pyrograph
Printing technique: Relief
Image size: 2-1/2in by 3-1/2in
Paper size: 5in by 7in
Paper type: Rives Lightweight
Ink type: Daniel Smith Oil Relief Ink

Sunflowers, Intaglio

Plate type: Wood Pyrograph
Printing technique: Intaglio
Image size: 2-1/2in by 3-1/2in
Paper size: 5in by 7in
Paper type: Rives Lightweight
Ink type: Daniel Smith Oil Etching Ink

Finished the Sunflowers

I tried to fix the mistake of burning the back edge of the vase through the flower stems by filling the line with a wood filler (Plastic Wood). With the small size, I used a toothpick to apply the filler, but didn't do a very good job. I probably needed to fill it high and a little larger area and then once it had set, sand it flat. As I didn't do this, the filler ended up bellow the surface of the wood and didn't help fix the mistake for printing.


I printed both intaglio and relief. The prints came out well with fine detail. The grain of the wood inked differently and showed up more than I had expected resulting in several stripes across the image. I'll have to take the grain into account in future prints.


I also need to work on meshing the textures and lines. The petals could be more defined, while the leaves could be less defined.

Overall, I think it was a success.