Red Barn Event - Block Printing Demonstration with Molly Hashimoto
Helpful tips not included in video:
Clean up all the tools with cooking oil--I like Kirkland Canola Oil, which I buy at Costco. You can put it on the block, the plexiglass plate, the brayer (roller), the ink knife. Wipe all of the tools off with a paper towel, rather than rags, as putting oil-soaked rags in the dryer can cause a fire. The materials we use are biodegradable so it's okay to place them in the garbage. After the oil is removed use a grease-cutting spray cleaner--Simple Green, Soy-Solv, Method--any of them will work. One extra tip: I use a flat razor blade to scrape the excess oil off the plexiglass plate!
Learn how Molly creates block prints, a relief method that has been featured for several years in calendars and cards published by Pomegranate Communications. The Aspens in Springtime print pictured here is the cover image for her recent Mountaineers book Trees of the West: An Artist's Guide.
The event will begin with a brief slide show about her book and its subject, which Molly has been studying and painting for decades: western trees, followed by a step-by-step demonstration of her printing method--designing, carving, inking and printing plus hand-coloring with watercolor.