Ink Wipe
Getting Inky with the Itinerant Printer
Finding time for hobbies this semester has been challenging to say the least. I finally got to print this year by attended a letterpress printing workshop lead by Chris Fritton aka the Itinerant Printer.
The focus of the workshop was ink wiping, a method that can be done intentionally or simply a way to clean a press.
Materials needed
- A press (dirty or clean)
- Ink (we started with a clean press)
- Turpentoid (odorless thinner), a spray bottle
- Paper (at least 80 lb cover)
To start Chris gave us a background on how he started this method while working at a book arts center. The center was looking for a way to cut costs (shop rags) and saving time is always valuable. It started out as a way to clean a press after a color run was completed. He said the expense of using thicker paper took a minute to get use to. The amount of rags used decreased immensely and they had stacks of one of a kind backgrounds later used for commissioned posters.
We learned a few other tips and tricks but I’m not going to tell you them here.
