I'm A Steady Rollin' Man part 9

 My plan for today was to get up to the Studio in the morning and pull a proof of the newest block.   If it was perfect (or at least as close as I will get), then I have a first proof of the block suitable for framing, and if not, I will know what needs to be done.   When I got up there, I pulled the box from behind my rack, where I assumed I had some sheets of the lightweight left.  I did find a nice sized sheet of paper, but if felt a bit heavier than what I was used to.  However, I decided to use it anyway, and cut a sheet in half, using my tear bar, two properly size pieces for what I had planned.  

I got out everything I needed, opened my current can of ink, and got ready to print. I haven't printed since early in the summer, so the top of the ink had dried out a bit, but what was under that crust was fine.   I inked up the block, then tried to pull a proof.   

This paper was a little heavier than what I have used to print other prints in this series, which I noticed as I was hand rubbing the back of it.  But even before I tried to print it, I had noticed some potential problems. Some things that I just didn't cut, but needed to be.  And this heavier paper had shifted slightly in the printing process, so the proof is not usable.  And a few areas just didn't get enough ink, a problem with first proofs.  However, it taught me a few things about the block, and the next time I print it, I'll deal with all those problems.  Another thing you may have noticed in the above photo is that one of the letters is backwards on a whisky bottle label.  I may be able to fix that in printing, or maybe not.   I'll find out when I print it next time.  

On the whole, it's not a bad print, so I hope the next proof is a better print than this one was.   I know what I need to do, so it's just a matter of doing it.   As part of my clean up, I used the last of the bottle of oil that I had.  Not a problem, as I had a new bottle ready to go, one that I bought a few months ago.  Put it in my printing bag, and will use it next time.

One thing I had to do today, on October 27th of this year, was to listen to the one disc I have that was also recorded on October 27th, the birthday concert for WNEW-FM (102.7 fm) in 1990.  That was a show by Robert Cray and his band, broadcast that night over the radio.  At the tine I taped it onto a cassette, and later burned it to a disc, probably in the early 21st century.  I think I made a copy of that disc to keep in the Studio, which is why I have it now, as part of my jazz/blues book.  I first recorded it in 1990, and the digital copy I have sounds as good as it ever did, some 35 years later.  The radio station is long gone, but the music lives on.