I recently found this nice blog about Erin McCall’s experience learning to letterpress.
Mutanabbi Street Coalition
On March 5th 2007, a car bomb exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad, the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. To protest the bombing, the Mutanabbi Street Coalition, a group started by San Francisco poet and bookseller Beau Beausoleil, is organizing two readings and has invited letterpress printers to produce broadsides. You can find out how to volunteer or submit a broadside here. There is a reading at the San Francisco Center for the Book on Sept 28. The broadsides will be displayed at the book center from Oct 19 – Nov 12.
Leveling or adjusting a platen
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Students in my letterpress classes often ask me how to make sure the platen on the presses they buy is adjusted correctly, so that it hits the chasse evenly when they print. I usually point them to a 1985 article from Type and Press. The platen may also need to be adjusted when printing really thick stock (like coasters) or die cutting. The site with the article has disappeared, but I had snagged a copy about a year ago, and I’ve posted it here on my blog. |
Letterpress movie
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Cathy sent me this link to a movie about letterpress printing. |
Pochoir
I edit a quarterly journal called Ampersand. Last year, someone gave me all the issues of Bookways, a book-arts journal published from 1991-95. They’ve been wonderful to read. The journal was letterpress printed and is full of reviews of fine press books and poetry chapbooks. The first issue I picked up had an article by Frances Butler on the history of pochoir (stencil applied color) as well as lots of tips for using pochoir in a book or on a broadside. One of the first classes I took at SFCB, probably in 2000, was on pochoir technique, taught by Cory Reisbord. The Japanese stencil brush I got as part of the class is in my brush jar in my studio, and I’ve picked it up many times intending to try stenciling, but haven’t. Frances’ article is fascinating, and it finally got me to invent a project.
Frances describes a jig for doing an edition of stenciled prints. Using a hole punch, you punch the stencils and all the paper along the edge in the same spot. Then the paper can be inserted over pins, the stencil inserted on top, and the paint applied. For the jig, I used davey board (thick board used for book covers) and clevis pins I bought at the hardware store. You can see the jig below, along with my Japanese stencil brush (available from McClains) and two other things I’m going to try to use to apply the paint (a sponge and a rubber paint applicator). Below that picture is the stencil and paper on the jig.
After testing the jig, I realized that a single sheet of davey board was too week and too “bendy”. I’m going to remake it with two pieces of davey board.
Frances’ article is available by purchasing an issue of Ampersand.
Art of the Book 2007
I helped organize the juried show of student work that opens today at the San Francisco Center for the Book, Art of the Book 2007. It runs from May 25 – Jul 27. The picture is of Eyes by Ginger Burrell. Find out more about SFCB here
