Art Articles & Reviews

} Making a printers chop Printmaking Series - Part 9 of 21 By Nik Semenoff Since printers chops are expensive, most printers don't have one. On a recent collaboration in Hong Kong I had not taken mine as weight was a concern. After finishing an edition, I sorely wanted to affix my chop in the corner as usual. I came up with a simple unit using nothing but matte board. I have since reworked the chop with a tougher card that will standup to many editions. Try and find a tough hard card which will be used for any other purpose than writing. Mine is used in the electrical motor industry but there should be others that would work as well. Cut two pieces about 3.5 x 5 inches. On one of them draw your design in the centre and close to one end. Don't make the design too complicated as you only have a sharp pointed knife to cut out the shape. An Xacto blade with a sharp point is best for cutting thigh curves, while an Olfa knife would work well for straighter portions. You will need the piece cut out so be careful not to damage it. Cut at an angle so that the print will be embossed and not die-cut, which will happen if the cut is vertical. Tough card will be hard to cut perfectly, but with care it can be done. When the shape is free, position it on the other piece of card, using the piece it was cut from to place it. Using a strong glue, attach it to the base card and leave it to dry. It may be a good idea to remove some of the edges of the die to leave some room for the rag paper of the print. All you want is a nice embossed shape with no torn edges. I would suggest you take off the corners of the top card so that the bottom one can be easily slipped under the print. Carefully align the two cards, leave even space between the die edges, then staple the cards at the other end from the die. Now you can use this for embossing prints by putting the sheet between the cards and roll over the opening with a hard roller, such as used in wallpapering. With care this chop should standup well for the casual printmakers or the dedicated one who is on a trip. ________________________________________________ Copyright © 2004 Nik Semenoff Nik Semenoff Artist-in-residence University of Saskatchewan Visit Nik Semenoff's website at duke.usask.ca/~semenoff/ for more information.