Sunday, April 9, 2017

Metal Stencils


Jean Saudé was the first to write instructions on how to do pochoir. In his 1925 book, Traité d’enluminaire d’art au pochoir, he gave a brief overview of the history of pochoir, explained the techniques which were accompanied by drawings, and showed examples, including several progressives. They used metal stencils, copper, tin, pewter, aluminum or zinc, in varying thickness. The knife could be straight or slightly curved, and they used linoleum as the cutting mat under the plate. You will find a link to Saudé’s magnificent, intricate copper stencil in my March color blog.

I had been taught to use acetate stencils with a dry brush in 1988.  I just learned that the Letterform Archive is publishing a new book on William Addison Dwiggins, which explains how he used that technique in 1928 for his variable design elements. I took the time to translate the Saudé book into English so that I might understand the cutting of the metal stencils, a few months before Havilah Press came out with an English edition. But it still wasn’t entirely clear how to cut the metal stencils.

I received a faculty research grant from Scripps College in 2015 to travel to Paris for a month to research why La Prose had not been completed. I did research at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Bibliothèque Fornay, and the Jacques Doucet Library, and I took the train over to the Tate Modern in London to see the blockbuster Sonia Delaunay retrospective. I had found Atelier Coloris online through an article by Zwartkruis online and now wrote to them, asking if I could visit them in Ploubazlanec, France. I spent a glorious week learning how to cut the metal stencils and use the brush in the traditional way.

Nathalie Couderc and Christine Menguy work together on pochoir projects at Atelier Coloris, and Christine also runs a framing atelier in the same building. They had worked together at the famous pochoir atelier, Daniel Jacomet, for five years. Nathalie agreed to work with me for a daily fee. It was thrilling to be there, amongst the stencils and brushes that she used every day.

Nathalie Couderc with Kitty at Atelier Coloris

 The very first task is to study carefully the image that you are reproducing by pochoir. You will need to separate the colors and decide which colors to use first, usually light to dark. Our model was the Yale facsimile, but we also had my photos from the Getty copy and the online version from the British Library. I had already studied the colors and made tracings earlier, but now we decided on which color to start with, the light green. We set up the first registration system by marking the corners of the page on the tracing paper. Then I traced the light green areas.

Tracing the light green areas on the glued but unfolded Yale facsimile given to Kitty by Timothy Young at Yale

 Next you tape the tracing onto the plate, which was .0055” aluminum, an offset printing plate by AGFA. The knife that Nathalie used was given to her by her pochoir master, so I felt I couldn’t use that. Her knife was slightly curved and was held in a round metal ferrule so that you can rotate while cutting. Naturally it needed sharpening as you went along. 

Nathalie showing how to cut the aluminum plate

 I had brought an Olfa knife with changeable blades, and that worked well enough. It has a very sturdy blade that doesn’t bend much while cutting.

Olfa knife with changeable blades compared to Nathalie’s knife


Under the aluminum was a rubber mat. Nathalie gave me a piece to take home, and I just found out what it is: 65 durometer solid neoprene rubber. The normal cutting mats we use are too hard, as the knife has to plunge into the rubber just so. 

Rubber mat, 65 durometer, solid neoprene rubber, one-half inch thick

You hold the knife normally, but you place your index finger (or sometimes middle finger) of the left hand onto the ferrule to help push the blade along. So the action is: plunge through the tracing and plate, push with the left hand and drag with the right all at once, and plunge again. Slowly you work along the pencil line you drew. It works more easily if you push the tip into some pig fat (I use bacon fat at home now, kept in the freezer).

The result is a series of short cuts that need to be flattened. The following short video demonstrates the cutting technique:





Cuts into the aluminum plate

 We used a wine bottle filled with lead shot and rolled it over the cut areas on both sides. This is done on a marble base, using full body weight. 

Flattening the cuts on a stencil using a wine bottle filled with lead shot

Now you are ready to pochoir. You want to be in natural light coming from the north, since you want to make sure your colors are matching your original. The gouache colors are mixed in a bottle to the consistency of skim milk. For an edition of five, as I was doing, you don’t need to make very much, but normally a half-bottle would be mixed. You choose a brush that had earlier used a similar color and was the right size for the stencil hole. 

The hog-bristle pochoir brushes are grouped by color

Place some gouache from the bottle into a plate and swirl around the brush to activate it. Now the challenge is to have exactly the right amount of moisture in the brush each time to do an edition, and to have them all look the same. In the photo, I am practicing the new darker green color before I work on the edition, which you can see near the window. 

Practising pochoiring the darker green area

 The registration scheme is as follows: after the first stencil where you marked the corners of the paper, on the second stencil you trace several areas that you just stenciled for registration positions. It’s best to have two or three areas for position. Those areas are cut out and are taped with scotch tape on both sides. You can see one of the areas in the upper left corner of the plate in the photo. The third plate then is registered to the second plate, and so on.

One of the most vexing problems while stenciling with acetate is that the color can easily seep under the edge of the hole, and that is the main reason for the dry brush. So I was really curious how that would be solved at Atelier Coloris when using metal stencils, which have the same problem, and a wet brush. Their solution was to put a little pig fat on the edges of the cut-out on the reverse, about 1/16” in from the edge, which is then brushed with a dedicated brush to even it out. Since grease repels water, it minimizes the problem, but you still have to be quite vigilant and choose an appropriate paper. You also need a very light touch.

Many of the 15 color areas on page one had special effects, some of which puzzled Nathalie and Christine, particularly the half-moon area. We decided to have four different colors in this area, but then use a small flat brush once the stencil was off to blend two areas.  

Brushing the half-moon area to blend colors, plate removed

This was not entirely successful, so I will be explaining next time about the many special effects we figured out how to do last month when I was making my most recent edition of 182 copies for the Zamorano Club, for a talk on April 5, 2017.

It was rewarding to have been able to cut all 15 of the stencils and to do the pochoiring myself, under the supervision of Nathalie and Christine. I made an edition of five copies and let them choose which one they wanted to keep.

Nathalie and Christine holding the completed facsimile of page one

8 comments:

  1. Hey Guys !

    USA Fresh & Verified SSN Leads AVAILABLE with best connectivity
    All Leads have genuine & valid information

    **HEADERS IN LEADS**
    First Name | Last Name | SSN | Dob | DL Number |Address | State | City | Zip | Phone Number | Account Number | Bank Name

    *Price for SSN lead $2
    *You can ask for sample before any deal
    *If anyone buy in bulk, we can negotiate
    *Sampling is just for serious buyers

    ==>ACTIVE & FRESH CC FULLZ ALSO AVAILABLE<==
    ->$5 PER EACH

    ->Hope for the long term deal
    ->Interested buyers will be welcome

    **Contact 24/7**
    Whatsapp > +923172721122
    Email > leads.sellers1212@gmail.com
    Telegram > @leadsupplier
    ICQ > 752822040

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Clients!

    We have the fresh and valid USA ssn leads and dead fullz
    99% connectivity with quality
    *If you have any trust issue before any deal you may get few to test
    *Every leads are well checked and available 24 hours
    *Fully cooperate with clients

    *Format of Fullz/leads/profiles
    °First & last Name
    °SSN
    °DOB
    °(DRIVING LICENSE NUMBER)
    °ADDRESS
    (ZIP CODE,STATE,CITY)
    °PHONE NUMBER
    °EMAIL ADDRESS
    °REFERENCE DETAILS
    °BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS

    ****Contact Me****
    *ICQ :748957107

    *Gmail :taimoorh944@gmail.com

    Cost for lead cost $2 for each
    Price can be negotiable if order in bulk

    *please contact soon!
    *I hope a long term deal
    *Thank You

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good day I am Olivia Chris by name and i live in united kingdom i will like to talk about the goodness of God in my life after so many months of trying to get a loan on the INTERNET and was been scammed so i became desperate in getting a loan from a legit lender on-line then i saw a comment from a friend called Carl Peter and he talked about this legit loan company where he got his loan fast and easy without any stress so he introduced me to a woman called Mrs MORGAN who controls a firm called COURTNEY INVESTMENT LIMITED, So i applied for a loan sum of ($360,000.00 USD) with low interest rate of 3% so the loan was approved and deposited into my bank account that was how i was able to get my loan to keep my broken business running and also to pay off my bills so i am advising everyone of you who is interested in getting a loan fast and easy to kindly contact them via email: courtneyinvestmentlimited@yahoo.com
    to get any kind of loan you need today, thanks as you read the greatest testimony of my life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Do you need Finance? Are you looking for Finance? Are you looking for finance to enlarge your business? We help individuals and companies to obtain finance for business expanding and to setup a new business ranging any amount. Get finance at affordable interest rate of 3%, Do you need this finance for business and to clear your bills? Then send us an email now for more information contact us now via (financialserviceoffer876@gmail.com) whats-App +918929509036 Thank

    ReplyDelete
  5. Update November 19, 2020 => Sell CVV/DeadFullz/GiftCard
    Hi guys!
    Call me Jack...
    Update November 19, 2020 <8:53 PM>
    LIST CREDIT CARD AND GIFT CARD

    ***** CREDIT CARD
    USA
    UNITED KINGDOM
    AUSTRALIA
    CANADA
    FRANCE
    GERMANY
    CHILE
    TAIWAN
    SPAIN
    JAPAN
    ITALY
    BRAZIL

    ***** GIFT CARD
    AMAZON
    ITUNES
    BESTBUY
    STARBUCK
    EBAY
    XBOX
    WALMART
    TARGET

    ***** DEAD FULLZ INFORMATION
    US/UK FULLZ RANDOM BANK
    US/UK FULLZ WITH ALL BANK (CHASE, HSBC, BARCLAYS, etc...)

    ***** DUMPS WITH PIN + CLONE CARD (BEST SELLER)

    CONTACT ME TO BUY:
    ICQ NUMBER: 678924920
    TELEGRAM: @jackhieu (Recommend)
    WHATSAPP: +84774511893
    GMAIL: (ICQ678924920@GMAIL . COM)

    FOLLOW WEBSITE:
    https://sellcvvicq678924920.blogspot.com
    (Updated new cc at last comment)

    THANK YOUR TIME!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello All Buyers Worldwide ... !!!

    You want to buy Credit Card or Some Tools other to work that does not want to See RIPPER / SCAMMER

    That is the reason why today we want to recommend to your . One where you can get what you want, but not to worry.

    - HOT 2021 Sell info fullz SSN + Dob + DL - Info Fullz Company ICQ: 748441620
    - Sell CVV, Info fullz SSN + Dob + DL Fresh New 100% Telegram ( @acesellers7979 ) -
    - Sell Pros + Driving license Info Fullz Any State : New York , California, Alabama, Arizona , California , Colorado , Florida , Georgia , Hawaii, Illinois , Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan ..... Any state in USA

    (1). Why do you choose us ?

    - Sell Cvv Good Fresh, High Balance
    - Sell Dumps Track 1/2 with Pin & without Pin
    - Sell WU Transfer
    - Sell Bank Login / Bank Transfer

    We Update Cvv and Tools Everyday.
    Working friendly, high sense of responsibility,fast,quality,reliable and ensure absolute security 100% for Partners.

    (2). Which kind of country you provide ?
    We provide you all countries, especially are Usa, Uk, Ca, Au, Inter, China, Asian, Africa ...
    We Update daily by assistance.

    (3). How about our checker ?
    Yes. We always checker Cvv and Services good + valid 100% before send for Customers.

    (4). Changes and refunds if CVV or Tools not good and did not work ?
    Yes. We changes and refund 100%, instantly to 10-15 minutes.

    (5). How about the rules work in business ?
    Don't talk about test free or sample or screenshot with me.
    I can not break the rules working in business chain till death.

    (6). How about payment system ?
    Now, we only use

    * Bitcoin (BTC)
    * Western Union (WU)
    * Perfect Money (PM)

    (7). How can I contact you and working ?

    •ICQ: 748441620 ( selldumps )

    •GMAIL: acesellers7979@gmail.com

    •WhatsApp: +84935462769

    •Telegram: https://t.me/acesellers7979 ( acesellers7979 )
    https://t.me/acesellers7979_verifiedseller

    •Google hangouts: acesellers7979@gmail.com


    * Working 24/24 *

    Thanks. Hope See You Soon !

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was infected with Genital Herpes Virus six months ago, ever since then i have been searching for cure everywhere because i was feeling so uncomfortable with it. I have been dating for almost 5 years until i contracted Genital Herpes from my ex-boyfriend. Since then i became very sad about the whole situation, always going online checking if i could get a cure to Genital Herpes, then i came across so many testimonies. Due to my seriousness and eagerness to be completely cured, i became a victim of fraud after contacting several so-called herbal doctors i was referred to. I lost a lot of money but i didn't stop searching for a cure. Then one faithful day, i came across a testimony of a lady saying that she got her Genital herpes cured by a Great Herbal Doctor she called Dr Ogudugu by contacting him through his email address. And she advised anyone with Genital Herpes or Simplex Herpes to contact the herbal doctor for Herbal Cure. I contemplated for about 4 hours whether or not to contact him. then something inside of me told me 'Nothing good comes easy'. I then contacted him through his email and told him my problem. He told me all the things I needed to do and also gave me instructions to follow, which i did properly. Just within weeks of drinking and applying the herbal medication he sent to me through dhl delivery service, i started seeing changes, i went to my medical doctor for check-up, i was so happy when the doctor told me i was no more having Genital Herpes Virus, it was all tears of Joy from that moment, People think herpes is really a minor skin irritation herpes has a long term effects on health and if i could ever meet a Genuinely Great Herbal Doctor. I'm so grateful to him. i am completely free from Genital Herpes Virus, i introduced a family friend who have Simplex Herpes virus to him, He called me and told me he was also cure completely. I promised to share my own testimony like that of the lady on the internet. Friends, if you are also struggling with Herpes disease you can as well Contact him via Email: greatogudugu@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is such a nice way to deliver the information to people like us and I would also like to share some Monkey Diamond Painting Kits sources for others who can benefit. Keep up the good work

    ReplyDelete