Simple guide to rollers for printmaking - Ep. 6 Quick Guide Series

This video will compare hard and soft printmaking rollers, varying in price and size from comparatively cheap to mid-range, to suit different budgets. I'll cover the difference between roller surface, handles, which ones disassemble, and demonstrate them in action printmaking. Stick around for the end where I suggest a good compromise on a soft roller for those on a budget.
I will be sharing a variety of different guides and projects over the coming weeks, so please like and subscribe for more content, and comment below if you have any questions.
You can find me online at:
www.heathergoldiegallery.com
heather_goldie_gallery
Please note I purchased all these products for use in my own regular printmaking practice.

[@lucretiaonutube]

Fantastic! This has helped me sort out my issue. I have a brayer bought to use with a gel press plate and I can't get it to roll out anything properly on plexiglass. I am going to invest in a good soft Japanese roller. Thanks so much!

[@HeatherGoldieGallery]

So pleased it's been helpful, the soft roller should work well with the plexiglass, I use mine with a glass kitchen chopping board to roll the ink out and it's been brilliant!

[@fredfan1122]

what kind of glass surface do you use

[@CAZZIEK321]

So true. I was about to give up with printing, as I thought my poor results were down to not having a good press, thanks to some good advice I swapped to the blue Essdee rollers and whilst I still have to work a bit with a spoon, pookie press or barren, it is a world less of pain. Why oh why do Essdee insist on starting people with tools not fit for the job. It may be that you save money, but you soon find you can’t get decent results without spending more. Essdee should ditch the red rollers and put up the price of their starter kits proportionally. Blue rollers verse red are only about £4 more and the results are so much better, you are far more likely to continue printing and go back to Essdee for more supplies. It’s a win, win result.

[@HeatherGoldieGallery]

Thanks for the message, I agree, I always struggled with the hard red rollers, I remember using them in school when I was a kid, which is why I first picked them up as an adult. Glad I quickly switched!

[@1ivingdeadgr189]

Very helpful thanks so much

[@HeatherGoldieGallery]

Thankyou glad it was useful!

[@chloecookart]

Hey there, thanks for the video! Was just wondering where you got your rubber rollers from, or if as long as you spend £25 they should be roughly the same? Thanks 😊

[@HeatherGoldieGallery]

Hi, my blog post might help, I list my favourite stores for buying equipment (not sponsored) I buy rollers from the same places - www.heathergoldiegallery.com/blog/printmaking-product-recommendations

[@sylwiamachalica26]

Thanks, very useful and informative. I would like to buy soft roller from esdee and use it mainly for blended rolls, habe you use them for this purpouse?

[@HeatherGoldieGallery]

Thanks for the lovely feedback, yes I have used it for blended rolls, but mostly with Schmincke ink and Caligo Safewash ink with that roller. As long as you work the ink with the roller a lot before transferring to lino you can get good coverage, hope that helps!

[@sylwiamachalica26]

@@HeatherGoldieGallery thanks a lot, I use Caligo Safe Wash exclusively. I have japanese hard rollers, they are great for details but are a bit tricky when I paint bigger areas in colour. I would like to try using extender and its hard to useit with a hard roller

[@HeatherGoldieGallery]

@@sylwiamachalica26 I had the same experience, it's difficult to get the hard rollers to transfer ink as easily, especially when I add any mediums. Caligo inks are great, they have their own brand extender which worked quite well for me too.

[@sylwiamachalica26]

@@HeatherGoldieGallery thanks a lot, you provide great tips😍 I have extender from Caligo but haven't decent effects due to my choice of roller. I love the transparency and delicacy of colours it provides.

[@vaishnavidhargalkar7016]

Hey! Thanks for this video. I had a question how do you store your brayer?

[@HeatherGoldieGallery]

Thanks, I store mine upright, I made a simple holder for them that the handle slots through, so the roller itself isn’t touching anything, worked well so far

[@vaishnavidhargalkar7016]

Thanks a lot 😊

[@johnmancilla2712]

What type of silver ink do you recommend for birch wood?

[@HeatherGoldieGallery]

Hi John, apologies I haven’t experimented with metallic ink on birch wood, but I have used Cranfield metallic oil based ink on lino and Japanese vinyl, both of which have been excellent! I know many other printmakers use that brand for metallic ink too, might be worth a try!