Get Ready for the Gocco Workshop! Preparing you Artwork

Nordic Blue Hares by Dee Beale 

We have a Gocco Workshop coming up, where we will show you how to print your own image using the clever Japanese 'Print Gocco' machine. The Workshop is in two weeks, so still a bit of time, but you should start thinking about the motive you would like to print and then prepare your image.

If you haven't booked yet and would like to come, please buy a spot in our etsy shop, there are still some spots left.

I'll explain how to prepare your image today, so you are ready to print on the day. You will have to have a black and white image on paper. The areas you want to be coloured in your print needs to be in black. The black needs to contain carbon. The carbon will react with the gocco screen when you expose it and will allow the ink to pass through in these areas.

There are a few different ways you can create a carbon based image:

• You can draw your image by hand with a carbon pen. Check out this link for a list of pens that might be suitable. If you have your own gocco machine, it came with a suitable pen, just use this.
•  If you don't have a suitable pen you can draw the image with any pen and just photocopy the artwork.
• You can make a digital image and print it on a laser printer

The screen that we use for printing are called a print master and it is approximately 110mm x 150 mm in size. To print properly you will have to stay away from the frame, so your image should probably not be bigger than 100mm x 140mm .

©RubyRedRocket2009

To print these little gingerbread men gift-tags for Christmas I used the image below, that I had created digitally. I printed it on a laser printer. The areas that will be coloured in the print are black on the printout

 

©RubyRedRocket2009

Let me know if you have any questions or need help with this. I post again tomorrow and show you a few gocco examples and how to work with colour.
Meanwhile, if you would like to do some reading and find out more about Goccos, have a look at Pips fantastic Gocco blog post with lots of Gocco links.