For Love Not Money part 6

This week I'll have occasion to pass within a mile of the local giant discount art supply store, so I figured it would be a good idea to see what I have and need in the area of color ink. Normally I do my coloring with watercolor, but that might not survive the twin perils of international delivery and whatever process my collaborator uses on the card. So ink it will be. My ink supply includes several old cans of oil based silk screen ink, which I picked up for like 75% off many years ago. Nasty stuff, which is why it isn't made anymore. But the colors are very bright and it is designed to dry quickly. I opened up four colors that might be useful. The lemon yellow and fire red (seen above) were completely separated, but a thorough stirring brought them back to life. On the other hand, the blue and green were also separated but the pigments were a solid block I couldn't break apart. I do have some tubes of blue and green oil relief ink, and some powdered pigments, so I think I'll be ok.

With that settled, it was time to go back to the block. Today's plan was to offset the image a few times to create registered color blocks. The image I carved yesterday is known as a key block- it includes all the lines and dark areas that will print over everything else and tie the different color areas together. Traditionally the key block is cut first, and prints from it are used to create the other color blocks. First step was to cut some pieces of slick paper to size and punch the registration holes in them. I inked my cut image with some waterbased ink, placed a piece of paper over the pegs and onto the block, and printed it. Then I quickly removed it, rotated the block, and placed the proof back on the pegs but on the other half of the block. (see above) I rubbed the back of the page with the same tools that I used to print it, but now I was transferring the ink from the paper back to the plywood, a process called offset printing.

The two step process results in a double reverse, with both the original block and the second image on wood being oriented the same way, and in this case both registered to the same set of pegs. I repeated the process two more times, using the same drilled holes and pegs and making two more versions of my composition on the back of the block, as seen below.

These images are not as bold and sharp as the paper proofs that created them, but include more than enough detail to allow me to cut them for different color shapes. Before I do that, I have to decide how many different colors I want to print and how they will be distributed around the composition. Given the close deadline I have for finishing this, my busy schedule (school starts up again for me this week), and that I only need one copy by the mailing deadline, I may try something different and more direct- a color monotype background overprinted with the key block relief. I have a few days to consider my options.