Nifty Registration jig

I made up a handy dandy registration device for my reduction print.  I took a class last year with Chuck Miley where we used easy cut block material and used a sort of mat out of foamboard which we dropped our block/s into.  The foamboard was the same size as the paper, if I remember correctly.  So I adapted that idea for this flexible block I'm printing with from McClains.  I cut a piece  binder board/davey board in a thickness that was thinner than my block.   I made sure the outer measurements were bigger than my paper.  I traced the block onto the davey board and carefully cut out the block shape so that the resulting frame would fit snugly around my block.  Then I laminated some graph paper and did the same measuring and cutting.  Then I glued the two together with a glue stick.  This enabled me to figure out exactly where the paper would lie.  I cut two strips of the binder board and glued them along the paper line forming an L.  For extra measure I glued a triangle of binder board over the corner  but I probably didn't need to do that.  It might have been better to be able to see the corner to make sure I had fitted the paper into place each time.  The laminated surface was easy to keep clean.  I still have one more color to print on 60 some prints but so far the fit is still snug around my block.  There might be a slight up and down wiggle room but each time I place frame around the block and snug it tight against the "L" corner.   

I've had registration on my mind lately, as I'm trying to work out an easy reliable method of registration for my Poco Proof Press.  So far I've made a tympan and frisket, (awkward in several ways) and  I've attempted to register on the cylinder (seems to be some slipping which might be my tympan cover not being tight enough).  What seems intuitive to me would be a sort of snug mat around the form which could lie on top of the furniture and onto which I could  lay the paper.   I have a matcutter and could maybe print onto a piece of matboard and then cut out the printed areas?Maybe I could have a board that is type high that locks along the edge and this matboard could be attached with tape and hinge?  Still thinking...   There's gotta be a better way!

Hooray!!

I have my 32 Moku Hanga woodblock prints done and will get them in the mail before the deadline--what a 

relief.  Ha ha--unintended pun!   For those non-printmakers, I'll explain.  A woodblock is a relief print, as in the ink is on the flat surface of the print when it is printed.  The negative/non-printing areas are carved away and below the surface.   What a relief!!  

Countdown!

This is the kitchen pressurizing sprayer I use to apply an acrylic type aquatint.   I believe it's intended to be used for cooking oil.  You put the liquid in and screw on the sprayer top and then you slide the pump top onto the base and pump it until there's enough pressure.  I do this outside and use a dust mask to avoid breathing the aerosolized acrylic (Future floor polish or Lascaux hard resist).  I stand where there's a darking background so the droplets are visible and I spray up high into the air.  As the droplets fall I slide the copper plate horizontally into the cloud of descending spray and it settles on the plate very nicely.  I do this repeatedly until I have what I want, using a magnifier loupe to check the progress.   Windy days are a problem but I've managed to deal with even that

ot the patience to wait for the weather to cooperate!  I rinse out and pump and spray water through the sprayer as soon as I've finished applying the aquatint.  If I'm worried that some acrylic may have dried on it I put some ammonia in it and spray that but you need to hold your breath in that case.

Here's the sprayer taken apart--the top piece is the pump.  It's a pretty simple device.  There's a gasket you can't see that ensures that the sprayer makes a tight seal and holds the pressure.  I have another one that's all plastic and it has a crack in it but will hold the pressure pretty well in spite of that.

The last photo is of the pump on top ready for pressurizing.

If you look on my Etsy site you can see some aquatinted etchings I made with this process.

http://www.artisanlyn.etsy.com

Here's one of my favorites--I like the way the pears glow.  It's so different from how I originally envisioned it but it doesn't matter!