Figure 425 is the best choice for carving
woodcuts. It should be kept sharp and
well-pointed, but only one side of the
blade should be sharpened. Use a rough
stone first, then a fine honing stone. Pull
the knife when you cut. Depending on
the length and depth of the cut and the
hardness of the wood, hold the knife in
your fist or like a pencil. Make your cuts
slanted, never vertical or undercut (Fig¬
ure 426). Turn the block to cut in differ¬
ent directions. Do not use the vee-
shaped tool (Figure 427) to cut outlines.
It is the right tool for correcting small
mistakes or to perfect a corner.

Use a curved gouge (Figure 427) for
small light areas that are cut against the
grain. For larger areas use a flat chisel
and a wooden mallet.

To cut letters in endgrain you will
need gravers of various types, as illus¬
trated in Figures 428 and 429. Keep
them sharp enough to cut with only
light pressure. Hold the graver with four
fingers and rest your thumb, which
guides the graver, on the woodblock
(Figure 431). It is very important to rest
the graver on a wooden wedge (Figure
432); this will prevent nicks and bruises
on the surface of the block. Move the
graver over the wedge in a lever-like
motion. Should your tool slip and make
an unintended cut, you can remove the
spot with a punch and replace the wood
with a plug.

If you are a beginner, try the different
movements and cuts on a practice block.

Printing. Use only paper that is wood-
free and soft and contains little size, and
ink will adhere to it well. Hard papers or
papers with a high size content do not
take ink easily, and the ink may bleed.
The best choices are printing or offset
papers and handmade papers. For large
prints with few details, use blotting
paper; for woodcuts, use tissue paper.

Several hours before you start to
print, dampen the paper by placing it
between damp waste sheets, to make it
more supple.

Use ink specifically made for printing.
Use it full strength for paper with high
size content and smoother surfaces, and
dilute the ink with turpentine for more
absorbent papers. Put the ink on a sheet
of glass or a lithography stone with a
spatula, and then use a gelatin roller to
spread it evenly and transfer it to the
woodblock. Work with small amounts of
ink at a time and roll several times if
necessary. Use a thin layer of ink for de¬
tailed artwork and a somewhat thicker
layer for large-scale work.

Hand presses yield more precise and
even results, and they also require less
strength than prints that are made man¬
ually. Presses use less ink, yet the prints
from them appear more saturated. Dif¬
ferent presses are available for woodcuts
and endgrain carvings.

Your paper should be larger than the
printing surface of the block. Hold it by
two opposite corners, with the rougher
side facing the block. When the print is
complete, lift the paper off carefully,
starting from one corner. If you move
too quickly, the paper may rip. At first
the block itself usually absorbs a lot of
ink, which may leave some empty areas
on the paper: this should not tempt you
to apply a heavier layer of ink for the
next print. Instead, if the problem per¬
sists in subsequent printings, apply addi¬
tional pressure to the problem spots or
increase the pressure of the press.

If you have no access to a printing
press, you can print by hand, using a
bone folder, spoon handle, or other tool
to burnish the paper. The best choice is
a piece of pear wood shaped by a car¬
penter into a somewhat bent form, with
rounded edges and corners, 12 inches
(30 centimeters) long, 1 inch (3 centi-

^

craft knife

Figure 425

right

Т_Г

wrong

Figure 426

vee-chisel

gouge

chisel
Figure 427

graver

Figure 428

V V и 0

graver cross sections

Figure 429

wedge

Figure 430

202

meters) wide, and lA inch (7 millimeters)
thick. All its surfaces should be smooth
and polished with wax or varnish so that
it will glide easily across the paper.

To put the paper on the block, hold
it with both hands and set the left side
of it down first. Hold it in place securely
with your left hand while you gently
stretch the rest of the sheet on with your
right hand. Keeping your left hand in
place, with your right hand smooth the
paper from left to right until the entire
surface is in contact with the block, then
press it on lightly with your palm. Be¬
fore you use the wooden burnishing
tool, protect the paper with a sheet of
wax paper or oiled paper. Move the tool
in small circular motions from left to
right and use the edge of it if more pres¬
sure is desired. Position your left hand
so that the paper cannot be crumpled.

Clean the block with turpentine after
each printing: it will be destroyed if you
allow the ink to dry on the surface. Cor¬
rections are often necessary after the
first printing. If the artwork on the block
is difficult to see after you clean the
block, dust the block with talcum pow¬
der and wipe the excess off with your
hand.

If you want to make simultaneous
prints of woodcuts and other typo¬
graphic materials, be sure to use blocks
of the same thickness.

Color Printing. Each color requires a
separate block. To avoid misregistration
during the transfer of the design to the
the blocks, print the first block onto all
others and cut away everything that ap¬
pears black as well as everything that will
not appear as second or third color. You
can use needle registration or an angle-
guide setup.

For the first method, make two needle¬
point holes on the surface of the first
block. Make sure that they are visible on

the print and punch holes at these spots
in the paper with the needle. Transfer
this print of the first block onto the next
block, make the new print, and from the
back side of the paper punch through
the holes with your needle into the
wood. In this way all blocks will be
marked with two dots at exactly the
same points, which will serve as registra¬
tion guides for the paper.

To use an angle guide (Figure 434),
you will need two pieces of wood at a
right angle. Now make a print of the
first block and do not take it off. Turn
the block upside down —the paper will
stick to the surface —and place it on a
level piece of cardboard. Place your
guide at one corner of the block and
mark all positions. Hold the guide, re¬
move the block, and put the next block
face down in its place (the paper should
remain on the cardboard) and make the
second print.

A third method is to make one print
of the first block for every additional
block on tracing paper and glue the
sheets onto the blocks.

Linoleum Cuts

Linoleum cuts are prepared in much the
same way as woodcuts. Linoleum and
similar floor coverings can be used as
long as they are at least Ув inch (3 milli¬
meters) thick; otherwise it is not possible
to cut out large areas. Choose materials
that contain no sand, will not crumble or
crack, and have no streaks or bubbles.
Reinforce the linoleum with a cardboard
backing and back the cardboard with
another layer, so that the adhesive does
not warp the backing.

Transfer your design to the linoleum
and spray it with fixative so that it does
not get rubbed off. If the traced lines of
the design are imprecise and your design
calls for extremely precise letters, use a
sharp-pointed pencil to make correc-

203