Studio: international art (77.1919)

COLOUR-PRINTING FROM WOOD-BLOCKS

that is materials which should be kept dry,
being on the left. 0000
Everything being ready, the printing-
sheets should be passed over the key-block
as before, except that each sheet in turn
should now be fitted into the two register
nicks. To do this with accuracy requires
some practice. The sheets should be
picked up between the fore and middle
fingers of each hand, and fitted into the
nicks, the thumbs being placed on the
paper at those points to prevent shifting.
The fingers should then be withdrawn
smartly, and the paper at once drops, and
comes into contact with the block. No
time should be lost, the rubbing-pad being
immediately brought into play. A smear
of oil on the rubber facilitates the printing.
The sheet should be removed by lifting up
the top edge, and placed on the top board
previously removed. It should be noted
that unless the composition demands it, the
line-block need not be of uniform black-
ness. Two brushes may be used. Thus
if the print Lapwings is examined, it will be
seen that much of the outline block was
covered with a brush charged mainly with
paste and a very little ink, the breasts,
wings, and heads of the birds being brushed
over with a smaller brush fully charged with
black. In this way, or by using a brush
charged with colour at one corner only,
interesting effects may be obtained. 0
All the printing-sheets having received
the key impression, they should be put
back, face downward in the same order,
unless one or more have been spoiled, these
being put at the top to be dealt with first.
All through, the best impressions should be
left at the bottom, for when these have been

reached, mistakes in register have already
been corrected and the colour-scheme
settled, while the surface of the block being
moist has its pores closed and is printing
its best. It must be understood that the
key-block is not always printed first. In
the print shown it was the last block to be
printed. One can print adjoining colour-
patches—adjoining, because then accuracy
of register can be tested before the line-
block. But in testing a set of blocks it will
be better to start with the key impression,
as inaccuracies of register are thereby more
easily detected. 0000
The largest colour-patch should then be
printed. Nothing has yet been said about
the management of the brush. A small
quantity of powder colour is placed on the
slab, a little water added, and well mixed
with the palette-knife to the consistency of
cream. After dipping the brush in the
colour, a little paste is taken up from the
plate containing it, which should be placed
close to the colour slab or plate. 0 0

The mixture of colour and paste should
be brushed vigorously across the block,
nothing in the nature of painting being
permissible. In the process of colouring
the block, any mixture of pigments becomes
intimate, and no broken colour is possible.
But beautiful gradations can be obtained by
dipping one corner only of the broad
brush into the pigment. When brushed
to and fro across the block the colour
crawls, as it were, along the brush, resulting
in a gradation. Two colours can even be
gradated at the same time by dipping one
corner of the brush into one colour and
the other corner into the second. By
watching carefully the appearance of the

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