Living Prints® Woodcut On-line

Paste the tracing

A water-based paste is best for gluing the tracing face down (wrong-reading) to the woodblock. I like a commercial brand of non-curling paste (re-labeled for this demonstration, "MacRitchie's Water-base Paste.") You can find an equivalent in most art supply stores. You can also make your own with wheat or starch and cold water--cooked until it is thick and translucent. I spread the paste with a wide plastic spatula, thinly enough so that it will not spread, yet thickly enough so that it will not dry too fast.

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  The water-based paste I use has the consistency of very soft butter. With a wide plastic spatula, I spread it over the wood block, thinly enough so it can not be squeeze out, yet thick enough so it does not dry too fast.

Then I roll out the tracing, aligning it to the edge of the block, and immediately I begin rubbing it down. I only get one chance; I have to be careful the paper does not wrinkle. I work quickly to adhere the tracing to the block before the paper absorbs moisture and expands.

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  Before this picture was taken, I rolled the tracing into a tube and then unrolled it over the sticky, moist paste coating. I had to work fast to adhere the paper, because moisture will make the paper curl and wrinkle. Wrinkles could be a problem. The tool I like best for this step is the Japanese printing tool called a baren; but I could use anything--even my bare hand.

At The Ten Bamboos Studio, four hundred years ago, the Chinese artists and printers may or may not have used the pasting technique. I learned many ways, including transferring drawings with carbon paper, drawing directly on the block without a master and a photographic method. Some are shown in educational videotapes in my library, which serious artists, collectors and educators have ordered in the past to learn and teach printmaking.

Some registration method is common to almost all of the transfer methods because registration is usually required in color printmaking. The first tracing, closer view, and the intricate details all show clearly through the paper, and also the registration marks. The wood grain of the block also shows, which I think is beautiful to see. I think printmaking is an art form with many beautiful aspects that you never see in finished prints. I call these properties, "Living Prints" because for me they enliven even the oldest prints we see and know about.

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©1999 Bill H. Ritchie, Jr. ritchie@seanet.com