How to Tear Down Full Sheets of Printmaking Paper Without Measuring
Channel: Block Paper Print
Date: 2023-01-25

For most beginning and seasoned printmakers, the most economical way to buy paper is by the full sheet. But if you’re starting, full sheets can be unwieldy to tear down. Learn how to tear down paper with a ruler or tear bar shorter than your paper’s height. This technique is fast, efficient, and requires no measuring. What’s not to love about that?!

What you’ll learn in this video:

01:15 Distinguish between the front and back western paper
01:45 Find the paper’s true center
03:56 Why the tearbar’s weight is important
04:20 When your paper is longer than your tear bar
06:10 What to do with paper scraps
06:30 The order in which to tear down and why
07:50 The rule of scale in printmaking
08:50 What to do with the watermarked sheet

What you need to tear down full sheets:
 Tear Bar from Takach Press: https://tinyurl.com/2z8lcrb5
 Self Healing Cutting Mat: https://amzn.to/3dtzrD7
 Shop Towels: https://amzn.to/3dtzrD7

Buy paper in my store! https://blockpaperprint.com/supplies

🎤 CHARLES WOODRUFF COATES: 
Charles is a professional artist, StrengthsCoach, and founder of Block Paper Print. His online courses and coaching clarify every step of the printmaking process so people can love the experience of hand-making prints.

Charles’s award-winning artwork draws from classical imagery such as gothic cathedrals and relates them to contemporary notions of the self as works-in-process. His large-format woodcuts are part of print collections in Tokyo, Bratislava, Krakow, and Bangalore.

🎓 MFA, Printmaking: University of Arizona 
🎓 Coaching Certification: Gallup 
👨‍🏫 Lead Facilitator, Block Paper Print (2015-present) 
👨‍🏫 Instructor of Record: San Francisco Art (2014) 
Institute, University of Arizona School of Art (2011–13)