Printing - Woodcut

My friend Jon is a very talented artist that I have the pleasure of knowing. Tonight I happened to pop by his place as he was beginning the printing of a newly finished piece, so I stayed awhile to lend a hand.

It is tough work and I didn't do that much compared to the other three (including Jon) as it was more a three man job.

It is done by rolling incredibly thick ink on, placing the paper on top and then rubbing it hard with a wooden spoon. I make it sound much easier than it actually is. You have to be really careful not to punch through the paper or make sure the paper doesn't migrate.

Here are a couple of pictures for you to enjoy. At this point only the top half was being worked on. It was a long process of checking for missed spots, rolling more ink on and rubbing again. Stop, repeat. Over and over.

I helped once before but each time I help my appreciation for their patience increases.

At this point in the pictures it is about three hours work with 3-4 people working on it at the same time.