I finally decided to do something with the picture this weekend. Fishing out a quick, late-night sketch from last year, I scanned it and upped the contrast. Then I printed it at the right size for a small block and transferred the laser print using a Chartpak blender marker. Stuffed full of deadly poisonous xylene, allegedly, so I opened the garage doors and windows to the winds and thought clean thoughts.

Conventional wisdom says to burnish the transfer. But conventional wisdom doesn’t own a hydraulic press, so there! One minute and six tonnes later I had a perfect transfer. I’d already darkened the surface of the block with a mid-grey Copic Sketch Marker. The alcohol-based ink doesn’t fluff up the wood like water-based highlighters can, so it’s perfect for the job. The theory is that when you cut through the grey surface the pale wood will make a strong contrast, so you’ll find it easy to see where you cut. And the theory is pretty good! Even on fine, shallow cuts I could see exactly where I’d been.

The woodblock decided not to co-operate. It’s light stuff that may or may not be basswood, bought from Intaglio Printmaker. To be fair to them I must say that the block was fine when they shipped it. I brought it inside before winter so it wouldn’t warp and crack in the garage, so instead it dried to tinder from the central heating! One flick of a gouge and I could clear a strip clear to the end of the block. Great for clearing the design, but scary when cutting details. It was entirely possible that even a little 1mm gouge would split the design in the worst way. But it survived as well as my tool skills permitted.

Maria Arango and others from the Baren Forum have good advice about wiping blocks with linseed or mineral oil just before cutting. In retrospect, this would have been the ideal time to make use of their wisdom.

I have mixed feelings about the results. It was great fun to cut, but I could have done far more with the source material. Then there’s the printing. I’m bad at inking blocks, and I don’t want to fill in all the small, shallow cuts by mistake. Maybe it needs stiff ink or the loan of a larger diameter roller? Only a tiny dab of ink at a time on the inking slab? If you reading this and have a suggestion, please leave a comment!

If it prints successfully I’ll post it. If not I’ll put it down as a learning experience.