Saturday 14 February 2015

Hand Burnishing

I was sent some samples of Japanese papers by John Purcell. These are very fine but strong tissue-like papers with wonderful names like Kitakata, Tosa Washi and Sekishu Shi, that are only 30gsm or less.
This makes them ideal for hand burnishing a wood engraving. By laying the paper over the inked block and rubbing firmly and evenly with the back of a spoon, it is easy to achieve a good print without the need for a press.