The coolest guy on the block, Mr Rumbabbagi
gladly, yet still a tad nervousness, let a whole bunch of fashion kids into his
home studio. Upstairs is his printing studio, currently undergoing renovation
(as is everything in India) with large printing tables set up and ready to go.
Once prized by royalty or the very wealthy,
Iron Black printing produces the blackest of blacks upon cloth. Fabric is first
treated with a mordant of harda – fruit
of the Myroballan tree. Better harda than
original mordants of camel or goat dung. To create the Iron Ink, scrap pieces
of iron are soaked with gur (indian sugar cake). After fermenting for 8 to 12
days it is mixed with tree gum and water to create a printing ink. Ingenious
really.
Mr Rumbabbagi has a beautiful collection of
traditional and contemporary woodblocks, our first play around with block
printing was so much fun. Trying to figure out the registration and repeat of
the blocks; the right amount of pressure needed from a martial arts style
strike on the block; the bounce of the block upon the printing tray – all a big
learning curve.
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