printing process

Mule Resophonic Witness

I recently completed work on the handmade certificate of authenticity for Mule Resophonic Guitars, shipping him the first Batch this past week. I hope you enjoy the finished piece and a few photos of the printing process.

Mule Resophonic Witness, 2018 linocut, printed with sepia ink on French’s paper

The block after numerous printings becomes a beautiful object.

The first batch of prints sent off to Matt Eich, now to be included with every guitar he and his team build, including the name of the customer and the number of the guitar written in the banners at the bottom of the print.

inking the block

Tthe trusty and bespattered 4″ speedball brayer.

A detail of the inked block.

Registering the paper on the block and press bed using a simple jig.

The delicate task of lifting the print from the block post printing.

print and block side by side

Examining the proof for flaws

The much reworked original drawing of the design.

Copper and Oil

The printing of the 1st and 2nd state proofs of The Flying Fish of Provision copperplate engraving. Copper and oil14

Thanks to my son for his help photographing when my hands were inky.

Zechariah

Zechariah, proof of a 3- color lino-cut.

I’ve been tinkering with this print for a few months now trying to get it right- not really sure that I am getting anywhere. While the 3rd block still needs a little adjusting- some of the lines are too narrow and gather ink to fast- it seemed ready to offer up here. Maybe you can give me some insight.

The print employs 3 different blocks, and there are in truth 4 colors if you include the white of the paper, which is part of the design. To cut down on time between printings in developing the proofs, I have been using water based inks. The final edition will use inks with oil as the vehicle. I have included a number of images from my process and some variations of the actual print along the way.