Lithograph from Claybord

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How to print a lithograph from Claybord.
Claybord Lithography
What you need for printing a lithograph from Claybord:
Claybord Original by Ampsersand
Claybord has a very smooth service. You can also give the surface more of a tooth with fine sandpaper. This will resemble the texture of a stone.
Two inch brush
Litho Pencils, sticks or liquid tusche. The pencils need to be greasy.
Cellulose Sponge
Vinegar
Litho Ink
A spatula
Gum Arabic
6 inch brayer
Glass Plate
Etching press, or a barren, but a wooden or steel spoon will do
Printing paper
News print
Rubber gloves
Paper Towels
Turpentine
Preparation Claybord
When you start out doing a lithograph form Claybord, you can sand the surface of the Claybord to get more tooth to your paper. It will resemble the structure of a stone when you start drawing on it. When you make your print with a press it is advisable to sand the edges of the bord, to prevent damage from the press and press blankets. When you have finished your sanding wash the surface under a cold water tap. Brush the loose clay. Of the plate. Then blot the plate with paper towels.
Drawing and painting
For drawing it is best to use litho pencils or litho sticks, or liquid tusche. You can reveal the point by first drawing on the cord. Then lift it up and roll the paper to the top. You can sharpen the point in two ways. With a pencil sharpener. I use a sharpener you actually use for an eye pencil. These are a bit bigger. For sharpening I use rough sandpaper.
Pencil no 1 produces darker strokes and Pencil no 4 is a harder pencil and you can use it for finer details.Place a piece of paper on top of the Claybord where you need to rest the hand. Otherwise you end up with greasy smudges or fingerprints on your drawing.
For this print I am drawing my cat Pogo. I first sketch in the total shapes with a number 4 pencil. After that I draw in the details. It is hard in the beginning to make smooth gradients. What works best is to build up your gradients in steps. The harder you press with the pencil the more structure you get in your drawing. I also use litho sticks, they are easier to buy. The litho pencils are hard to get. I think they will be discontinued. I also use scratchboard tools to get more details in the fur. After that I draw in more details and keep on working on it to get the total values right
Preparation for printing
Prepare your paper
Soak your printing paper into water for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Prepare Claybord for printing
When you finished drawing it is time to prepare the Claybord for printing. Get some vinegar and clean your surface gently with a cellulose sponge. This will remove some unwanted stains and smudges you have made with your hand. You will see that some grey will drip off the plate, but that is perfectly normal. Then run the plate under a cold water-tap and shake off the excess water. The preparation with the vinegar makes the drawing more receptive to Gum Arabic.
Ink preparation
Open up the Litho Ink and scoop a little bit out and spread it on a glass plate. Use a roller to spread out the ink evenly. Lift up your roller and change directions. Otherwise your ink will not be distributed evenly.
Gum Arabic
Now it is time to prepare your Claybord with Gum Arabic. Use a big brush and paint the Gum Arabic liberally onto the plate for about two minutes. Make sure that the entire plate is covered. With a damp cellulose sponge gently wipe off the excess Gum Arabic. Keep the plate wet, but not excessively.
Inking
Roll the ink onto the plate with the litho ink, two or three times.
Clean the edges with a wet sponge. Grab the wetted paper and lay it on top of the plate, leaving space on all sides. For printing it is always better to have bigger paper then the Claybord plate.
Now you can print your paper in an etching press or use the backside of your spoon and roll the spoon in circular motion.
As you can see, something went wrong with the inking. Maybe the ink was to dry. Or I may have used to little Gum Arabic or water .
Lithography works with the following principle. The surface of the plate needs to be water-soluble. The Gum Arabic is receptive to the greasy pencils and tushes you draw with on the plate. You print with an oil based Litho Ink. Water and oil repel each other. That is why you need to wet the surface with water all the time, so that the ink won't smudge the empty areas.
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