Class taught by Candice J. on 9/30/06
See the gallery and upload your own images:
Carving Your Own Stamps on Flickr
Supplies:
I have provided a file with several copyright-free sample images that you can download from OSAClasses files and print out. The file is available to members of OSAClasses at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OSAClasses/files/
You will need to print this out and then make a couple of black and white photocopies (toner based) prior to the class, or print it on an inkjet printer then use transfer ink to transfer the image to your carving block.
In addition to the image sample sheet referenced above, you will need at the minimum:
- carving rubber
- linoleum cutter and blades
- an Xacto type craft knife is also useful
- polish remover to transfer your image to the carving blocks if you’re working with photocopies, or transfer ink if you’re working with inkjet printouts
The other critical element is to have your design pieces ready. You can actually use any of the images found in the files both for the scraps to stamps or the carving sample files, however, some of the images for the scraps to stamps class may be too big for your rubber pieces if you have the 2″ x 3″ pieces. For this method to work you need to have the images photocopied (toner based) in black and white so that the image can be transferred to the rubber. Your copy should be the same orientation as you want your final stamp, i.e. DO NOT make a mirror-image. If instead you plan to freehand draw your own image onto the rubber, you will need to draw it as a mirror image onto the rubber.
For carving I try to prepare my images so that the black is the part that will be carved away with the white part being the actual stamp image. It doesn’t really matter just as long as you know which part you are going to carve away and which part remains. If you use any of the images in the scraps to stamps sample sheets you will be carving away the white part to get the final image, as the difference between the carving page samples and the stamps to scraps samples is that the final image in the carving samples will be what is shown in white, whereas on the other sheets your final image would most likely be the part shown in black (or red as on the dragonfly sheet).
These are the carving tools I will be using. The one on the left has a fine liner blade.
This is the one I start with to carve away the rubber closest to the image and in small areas. It is used with a pushing motion, cradling it in your hand with the handle between your thumb and index finger. The middle tool is a gouging tool. It will carve away larger areas at a time. You hold it the same way but you pull it toward you rather than push it. The tool on the right is a craft knife similar to an Xacto knife. This is used to cut away the rubber along the outside edge of your stamp after you have carved a thin defining line. It is also used to shave off stray bits left around the edge and elsewhere on your stamp. Some carvers do all their carving with just a craft knife and you can experiment with that.
When you are carving you must keep in mind that once you have removed a piece of rubber you can’t put it back. So both in terms of personal safety (avoiding cuts) and your final result you really have to concentrate on what you are doing. Study your image before cutting it out. Wherever possible carve in a motion that is moving away from your image rather than into it.
Step 1:
Cut out the photocopied or printed image you will use. In preparing these sample images I reversed the black and white. You will be carving out the black areas and leaving the white. Later when you do your own images if you don’t have software that will let you make a negative, then you will have to carve out white leaving black on your stamp. It won’t hurt the stamp, but for those purists among the group it will look ugly. Your rubber needs to be at least as big as the image you use.
Step 2:
Lay your image face down on the rubber. Check your rubber first to see if there is a smooth side and a rough side. You probably want the smooth side to be your stamp so place the image print side against the rubber.
Step 3:
If working with a photocopied image, put a little nail polish remover onto a cotton ball, wad of paper towel or bit of cloth and daub it on the back of your image (if you’re working with an inkjet print, then spritz the image with enough ink until it is saturated). This will transfer the toner onto the rubber to use as a template for your carving. And the magic of this part of the process is that since your image was face down on the rubber, it automatically makes a mirror image—which is what you need for your stamp. You need to be sure that the nail polish remover or transfer ink completely dampens the entire image to transfer the image. I am finding that the paper I have now that I am using with my copier tends to stick a bit to the rubber when I remove it. If you end up with excess paper on your rubber, try to peel it off but it won’t hurt if you leave it, you will just have to carve through it as well. I press down on the paper while it is still wet and then peel up a bit of the edge to see if the toner has transferred—if not I apply more nail polish remover and check again. If the nail polish remover evaporates before peeling off the paper you tend to get more paper stuck on your rubber. You may get varying results depending upon the paper, the type of toner and the copying machine that was used. It doesn’t need to be a dark copy, just as long as there is enough contrast for you to tell the areas apart. (If you don’t have access to a copier you can try holding your image backside to a light source and tracing the outline of the image. Then you could use carbon paper and trace the image onto your rubber—again, you want the mirror image on your rubber.)
Step 4:
If you have not used these tools before you might want to just play around a bit using the tools on the rubber in the area that will be outside your image. Draw a little line, curve or circle on the white area above the rabbit and try out your tools to get comfortable with the feel of the tools and how they cut into the rubber. You don’t want your fine liner to go completely under the rubber, you want it to peel off the strips of rubber in its channel. As you remove pieces from the rubber you may need to pull these pieces out of the channel in your blade. Get comfortable with starting and stopping a carving line, moving your blade around a curve, etc.
As previously mentioned, you need to study your image a bit before you start carving. Work on the hardest parts first so that if you make a serious mistake you haven’t wasted your time on the entire piece. Look for tight places and areas where you can carve in a motion away from the image. In the photo for this section I am starting where the ear meets the body, carving away from that intersecting point. If I carved toward that intersecting point there is a high probability of carving into the body piece. After you have picked out and carved away all the problem areas, just go around the edges of all the sections of your image, carving a little channel between the sections and the excess rubber, defining your image. Repeat this a few times until you have about 1/16 inch or more of space around all the areas of your stamp (except of course in any areas between two sections that are narrower than that.) Remember, on this image we are carving away the black.
After creating a channel around your image, you can use your craft knife to slice off all the exterior chunks of rubber around your image. Because this image has an open area between the bunny’s rear leg and tail, you will need to pretend there is a line there and just trim from the leg to the tail. I am sorry but this is where some of the photos did not turn out.
Step 5:
At this point, if you have a gouging or wider blade you may want to change blades and begin removing larger chunks of the unwanted rubber. It doesn’t show up too well in the photo, but if you look closely you can see that the gouging blade is pulling up wider chunks of rubber. You pull this blade toward yourself, always being careful not to pull it into part of the stamp image. You can also try cutting away some of the rubber with a craft knife if you prefer. Or you can just continue using your fine liner until you have removed all the unwanted rubber.
Step 6:
Ink up your stamp. This will highlight all the raised areas of your stamp. Inspect your inked stamp and carve away any stray raised areas you don’t want on your stamp. Some carvers prefer having stray lines to give it a real hand-carved look. Others want their stamps as clean and crisp as the store-bought ones. I have included a sample with carving lines left in the class album. The photo of the stamp (bunny hopping in the moor) didn’t show up too well, but you can see the result on the impression of the stamp. If you look at the class bunny for this step you can see some stray purple marks—this is rubber to be carved away before my stamp is finished.
When you are happy with how your stamp looks, stamp it out on paper to see if you need to make any more changes. The rubber I use is thick enough that I don’t need any additional base for it. If you use thinner rubber you may want to adhere it to cling vinyl mounting foam to use with acrylic blocks or permanently on wood.
This isn’t a technique for everyone and the resulting stamps may or may not be to any given stamper’s taste or style. This class was meant to introduce you to this process to expand your stamping tool kit. There are lots of websites on stamp carving, often listed as “eraser carving” and a lot of it is really “out there” stuff. This is just another way that you can make something a bit more personal or make something you can visualize but not find available for sale anywhere.
As several of you mentioned, it does take a bit to get the hang of using the tools, and there are more tools you can use than the basic ones I listed for the class.
You can also experiment with different transfer mediums as several class participants suggested–and you may find one that works just fine with your inkjet printed images.
Be sure you are using either your own original art or copyright free images when using this process.
Carving rubber comes in a variety of sizes and types. The preview page for this class lists some sources:
Carving Your Own Stamps on Flickr
I have a lot of the material from Nasco in 2′ x 3″ blocks up to 12″ x 18″ blocks I am happy to sell at cost plus postage on request. This was leftover from a class that had cancelled. Given my age, and lack of free time, I doubt I will ever use it all up myself! Sabine also recommended a different material: http://www.stampeaz.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1
In any case, I hope you all have had fun, ended up with something you liked or at least the sense that with a bit more practice you can make something you like.
Candice
