BUCKET EXHIBITIONS: BIG PRESS and BIG INK Technique

BIG INK had big printing down to a science -- both in moving their press across the country in a van, and with their technique of pulling big prints.

BIG TUNA PRESS

The BIG TUNA press

makes up to 40 inch x 8 feet prints

I wondered how they were going to transport their BIG TUNA press from city to city, between Maine and California:

BIG INK moving the BIG TUNA Press

into Albuquerque

THE CORE of the PRESS

The rollers weigh 500 pounds,

even though they are hollow

BIG INK broke their BIG TUNA press down into pieces, which they unloaded from their van, and then assembled on location:

The BIG TUNA press

coming out of the van in pieces

PAPER

They set a roll of Masa Paper on top of the press rollers, which unspooled as the woodblock was cranked through the press:

The roll of Masa paper

only touched the woodblock

at the point of pressure

This was genius! The motion of the press crank moved -- BOTH the Woodblock and the Paper -- through the press. There was NO hassle of laying a huge piece of paper on a large woodblock before printing.

As long as the roll of paper was between the masking tape guides (on the big roller), the paper "registration" worked wonderfully:

The roll of paper

had to center between the masking tape guides

Threading the paper on the back side

was it's own science, but simple enough

PROOFING

Peter Michael Martin proofed his big print with a wax rubbing stone from Gravestone Rubbing Supplies:

Peter Michael Martin

proofed his big print

with solid Gravestone Rubbing Ink

INKING

BIG INK uses Speedball Oil-Based Relief Printing Inks (which dries a little faster than the SuperGraphic black):

Speedball Oil-Based Relief Printing Inks

BABY WIPES are always critical,

as they clean the ink off the printmaker's hands

CLEANING the WOODBLOCKS

Before inking, the artist needs to clean all the dust and debris from the woodblocks:

Lyell cleans the woodblocks,

with a brush, then a cloth,

then makes a few passes with a roller to remove the finest debris

Chris first scrubs his woodblock with a brush

Peter uses a Gerson cloth

to clean his woodblock

HOLDING the BRAYER

Hold the hand brayers like a dagger, clenching with your fist, to ink the plate:

Clenching the hand brayers like a dagger,

to ink the woodblocks

BIG INK raised their folding inking tables

with some custom wooden dowels

as it is easier to ink when the tables are waist high

THIN LAYER

of VELVETY INK

BIG INK puts a thin velvety layer of ink on the woodblocks, which makes that sizzling sound as the roller passes over it. One can peel off some of the ink and roll again, if there is too much ink on the plate.

One can peel some ink and roll again,

if there is too much ink on the glass plate

Mark used to work at Takach Press,

and checks out the serial number of the roller

that Lyell is holding

Lyell checks the inked surface with a small flashlight, to look for any dull un-inked areas, as well as for dust and ink globs on the plate:

Inspecting the velvety inked surface

with a flashlight

Any inked spots that one does not want to print, can be covered in masking tape:

Masking tape

covered the inked chatter

that the artist did not want to print

UV INVISIBLE INK

BIG INK makes their chop mark with invisible UV INK from a stamp pad, which can only be seen with a black light:

Stamping the print with a UV ink chop

CARVING

BIG INK had some carving tools on display:

Power Grip carving tools

on display

Carving after the first print

to refine the plate

MOVING the PRINTS

They covered the fresh prints with newsprint and rolled them up, so that the artists could transport them home. This should not smudge the print if the newsprint doesn't rub sideways. Then once the artist unrolls the paper and exposes it to air, the print should dry in about two days: