William Blake's printing process [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: William Blake's printing process [video]

#11

Post by hirundo » Mon, Mar 14, 2022, 2:17 AM UTC

totetsu wrote: post #10

hirundo wrote: post #2

I printed this William Blake on a Pixma last month: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/p_127... A skill that Blake took a lifetime to learn is now for sale on Amazon with free shipping. But instead of using it to create original work like Blake did, I use it to steal his art and put it on my wall. That's both sad and glorious.

A big part of print making is the material properties of paper and inks etc. Digital prints don't capture any of that

True, but I can't tell the difference from about three feet away.

Re: William Blake's printing process [video]

#12

Post by fernly » Mon, Mar 14, 2022, 3:05 AM UTC

I could do with a bit more explanation.

Why does the man print multiple copies of the same plate, but each with successively lighter ink, or less ink?

There's a comment about the texture of the ink layer produced by the dauber or pouncer, but they don't show us that, or indeed ever let us get a close look at a page. Some magnified images with raking light would have been nice.

Why is the plate so small, or was that the size of the book (possibly "tricesimo-secondo", 3.5 x 5.5 inches)?

The impressed pages have a distinct rectangle pressed into them. How would such pages be bound into a book, i.e. glued on to larger sheets? sewn or what?

Was the plate being used an original by Blake, or a reproduction?

Was this an on-going project to reproduce an entire book (Songs of Innocence, it appeared) and if so, how long would that take? Or was it a one-off demonstration for the film?

Re: William Blake's printing process [video]

#13

Post by pasabagi » Mon, Mar 14, 2022, 7:04 AM UTC

totetsu wrote: post #9

pasabagi wrote: post #6

I've been messing around with etching for a few months, and I've had quite a lot of luck with a process using a steel plate, a salt-water electrolyte, a power source at 5V or lower, and either a lacquer resist (for WB style relief etching) or a hard wax resist (for traditional etching), then taking a print by putting the plate in a frame, adding a sheet of aluminum gauze, then filling the frame with plaster. The plas…

Is there a name for the plaster technique?

I got it from this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDwl0isLpxg.

In my opinion, he makes a bit of a meal out of it: you don't need to take that much care over the frame, but the technique works well. Sometimes if you have a lot of open bite it's tricky to take off the plate without breaking off some of the surface.

Re: William Blake's printing process [video]

#14

Post by d13 » Mon, Mar 14, 2022, 8:55 AM UTC

A cousin of mine actually rented a flat at 13 Hercules, Lambeth, about 20 years. They were doing some home decoration, pulled back some ancient layers of wallpaper and found a layer with huge, hand-drawn Blake-like artwork in one patch. At the time they didn’t know the Blake had lived there, and although I have no idea what happened to the walls since then, they didn’t disturb or paint over the art. Who knows, might still be there, waiting to be discovered! The very unimpressive building is still standing and is a short walk from the London Eye.