It takes a lot of practice and a light touch. In my experience, you need to really saturate the photocopy with gum arabic, wipe off the excess, and very lightly roll on the ink(which should be mixed with some setswell. The ratio differs from color to color, but the texture should be similar to room temperature butter). Then use a sponge or spray bottle to bring up the ink. If you did it right, the water should make the ink come right off and you won't have to wipe much with the sponge. If you wipe too hard, it will take the toner off of the paper and create a big mess. I usually do this three or four times, until a layer of ink is visible on the toner, and then send it through a press. The most common problems are too much ink on your roller, which can cause an inky mess, using too much pressure with the roller, and too much or too little sets well in the ink. With practice, it's very reliable and is my go to printmaking method
2 comments:
What is your method for the gum transfer? I've tried it before and it just seems really unreliable, but it might just be me!
It takes a lot of practice and a light touch. In my experience, you need to really saturate the photocopy with gum arabic, wipe off the excess, and very lightly roll on the ink(which should be mixed with some setswell. The ratio differs from color to color, but the texture should be similar to room temperature butter). Then use a sponge or spray bottle to bring up the ink. If you did it right, the water should make the ink come right off and you won't have to wipe much with the sponge. If you wipe too hard, it will take the toner off of the paper and create a big mess. I usually do this three or four times, until a layer of ink is visible on the toner, and then send it through a press. The most common problems are too much ink on your roller, which can cause an inky mess, using too much pressure with the roller, and too much or too little sets well in the ink. With practice, it's very reliable and is my go to printmaking method
Post a Comment