Gocco Magic

I used my print gocco for the first time to print my '09 Christmas cards, and I wanted to share with all y'all what the process of gocco entails, cause its actually pretty neat despite the fact that it's officially a dead hobby.

Gocco is fairly similar to silkscreening in that you use a fine mesh screen to burn your image upon and run ink through. Some differences:

1. gocco is smaller, and more suitable for card making which it was made for anyway.

2. you press the ink thru like a stamp, instead of pulling it through with a rubber squegee.

3. oil based inks

4. you can simultaneously print more than one color in one run. Amazing.

First you start off with a toner based print out of your design (separated out into different layers if you want to get fancy) and two proprietary RISO flash bulbs that cost a fortune now due to dwindling supplies. (I wasted about six of these bulbs that night before I realized it *was* working and *I* was the idiot. roughly $30 down the drain. ouch.)

Affix the flash bulb holder onto the press and press down.. bulbs flash, and expose your screens.

First screen properly burned, you then ink the screen.

Screen inserted back into the press and in the process of printing the first run...

Once the first run is done, the second screen which will be printed on top is burned and here you see the registration plate print that will help me align everything.

Once properly registered, lock the press down and remove the registration plate. Not wanting to get laid off..Michi participates in quality control at my sweatshop.

Tada!