The Pros at Work

After a few weeks of preparations, today was finally the day to print the editions that we were hired to do.  I had everything ready to go when Molly arrived at the scheduled time.  It's been a long time since I used a press to print a relief print, not since I was in grad school.  (the print I had done at Evil Prints in St Louis was done on a press, but Tom's studio assistant did all the work)  However I've worked with presses enough in the past to know a thing or two, and we had Molly, owner of the press, to handle all the details.  

The first step for each print was to adjust the press for the thickness of the block.  (all three, one double sided, were different)  Once we found the proper pressure, I took the block over to my area and started inking.  The first few proofs of each always took longer, but the process would get faster as the ink built up, though not so much ink built up that there was a noticeable difference between first and last proofs.

The next step was to take the inked block over to press, and that's where Molly took over.  I had taped to the press bed a paper template with registration marks for the paper and a marked box for the block, so that all prints would be centered on the paper.  Molly used her much cleaner hands to carefully place the paper in its proper spot.

After that, Molly and I would put the blankets in place and she would crank the block and paper through the press.  

The blankets were then rolled up and the print carefully lifted from the block.  After a quick inspection to make sure that it was up to standards, it was placed in one of the drying racks.

At the end of the day's work, we had finished the commissioned work- editions of 7 prints each of the four blocks.  After a few days they'll be dry enough to be signed and safely transported home by the artist.

I've done the equivalent of printing that number and size prints by hand by myself, though that only happens when I'm producing an edition for a group folio.  And I would typically break that up into two sessions to keep my arm from falling off.  The division of labor and use of the press does make the job a lot easier.  Too bad I don't have the money to hire a staff for my own projects.