Leaves — Pulling the final impression of first 77×42 inch woodcut
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This morning I pulled the final impressions of my first 77x42 inch woodblock print using my new press… Not bad for a first attempt, actually, but I believe I can greatly improve with more practice! Registration appears to be pretty close to dead-on, thanks to paper maker Iwano Ichibei’s having rocked the paper mold lengthwise so it is very stable in the long direction! Kinda amazes me to be able to maintain such tight registration over 77 inches of paper — I had NOT expected this to be so easy and automatic at all! COOL!
Here’s a short (3.4mb) movie showing the last impression of the last print (8 blocks were printed on each of 5 sheets) — ends with some dizzying (sorry) close-ups of the print showing rather intense detail:
pulling the final impression
OK, here’s about 11 minutes of video showing the first prints coming off the large woodblock printing press I’ve built — the press bed it about 4 1/2 feet wide and 10 feet long and has a novel paper delivery humidor which can present sheets up to 4x8 feet for registering and printing by a single person (actually, I’m a married person, but I print solo 
(carving and printing on new press)
The block on the press is a 4x8 foot sheet of 1/4 inch cherry plywood — easy for me to carry back and forth from the press to the carving machine (only a few feet apart) as this is to be a reduction print, so only one block will be carved, printed, and recarved through the eight printings for theimage.
The papers I’m printing are very thin and very fine Japanese Hosho made by Iwano Ichibei. These are the largest sheets Iwano-san has made in many years — 42 x 77 inches. The are also the largest sheets I’ve EVER handled! But the mechanical aids I’ve designed and built make it so easy!
I feel SOOOooo happy! It works even better than I’d hoped and seems very easy and straight forward… I have a few adjustments to make in moving the paper from the block into the printed paper humi-drawer under the press, but I think that should be a relatively simple improvement.
Considering that these are the VERY FIRST prints I’ve pulled from the press (and that my skill in handling the blocks, sheets, inks, brushes, drawers, etc. can only improve with practice), these first attempts make me feel optimistic! My only regrets at the moment are that I’m no longer young, strong, and/or slender-- I’ll have to work on those a bit (LOL)
Mike
-- Mike
Amazing, Mike. I don’t know if I can describe for you the feeling I get when I see what you’re doing here; the sharp intake of breath as I experience both delight and disbelief watching these little videos. And just the thought of dampening those huge pieces of paper… wow. Looking forward to seeing how the first print progresses. Thanks for the peek into your studio.
This is really cool. I am impressed.
Fantastic! I can’t wait to see the finished print.
OMG!!! i want one
way to go Mike…I’m thrilled for you to see your “Baby” working and working very well i should say!
Congratulations!
Bette Wappner
Amazing stuff Mike!
It must be a little heart-stopping risking such huge sheets of beautiful washi. I am keen to see how you tackle registration.
Congratulations, Mike! What a riveting piece of video! Looks like you’ve developed an elegant and seemingly flawless system. Thanks for sharing your inauguration of the press with us.
that was incredibly cool!! i too can’t wait to see each of the next steps! thanks for sharing.
brad
Mike I don’t know if you are more obsessed or more clever. Equal parts of both? Truly impressive, and I like the website, too! A multi-talednted guy. I can’t wait to see the print!
Congrats on getting this beast working!!! Encourages me on MY press project- As it isn’t NEARLY as ambitious, I just might be able to pull it off!!
_Andrew
This is a totally awesome video and press as well. Thanks for your generosity in sharing your new press with all of us. I can hardly wait to show this to my husband, although he has several projects already lined up ahead of making me a press
Jean Womack
Wow! Mike, that looks great! Are you going to do any figure or portrait blocks that large?
YOU DID IT! Way to go, Mike. Its been fun watching the videos. The print is very cool. Is it from a photo of leaves on the sidewalk? The whole process of your invention is totally fascinating!
Bette Wappner
Fantastic! Seems like all your careful preparation made this a wonderfully smooth and easy trial run. Congratulations, Mike!
So happy for you. Glad that you did not run into soo many problems. Interesting print too.
Marilynn
Congratulations! I like the idea of macro photography meets the macro woodblock.
Just excellent! It’s great after all your hard work, to have things work out so well. You must be ecstatic! I loved the print as well as the textures created within the print.
Ever so glad that I finally got to your site/print gigundus.
Thanks!
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Benny Alba in studio