The Silly Harpist - Silent Night

The Dove

And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away, and be at rest.

Psalm 55:6 

Our friend's mother passed away yesterday. I made the above print a few months ago with her in mind.

#17 - Testing... Testing... 1-2-3

Last week I went to see an exhibit of Japanese woodblock prints at the legion of honor. All of the prints there were done with a block for each color, and used registration guides cut into each block to register the colors together. I wanted to do a test of the sketch for the Comedy of Errors poster to see if I could do this technique, and to see if I could carve the intricate lines, so I just did a small portion of the image. Five colors!

The registration technique is very effective, and I didn't struggle with the carving. I am pleased with how well I was able to reproduce my drawing, even with the cruddy water-based ink I had to use to do this test (oil-based takes a day to dry, so this would have taken five days). The black would be more crisp in oil-based ink, so the detail could look even better.

I really, really hope that the sketch is a hit and that I get the (volunteer) job! It's difficult not to doubt myself and wonder why I just spent many hours making this little test. I continue to to have to remind myself at every step that one of my goals is to get over that doubt - so what if it's bad? I like it!

Click for a closer view.

#17 - The Comedy of Errors

 

I'm pretty sure I will have the privilege of doing the poster and program for San Jose Youth Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors". This is easy for me to get excited about, and picturing an image was not difficult. My daughter suggested using the playing card motif again since the play is all about twins. The drama masks just seemed like the right fit, and I didn't have to draw realistic faces.


This is still in the sketching stage, and there are things I want to improve about it, but overall I'm very pleased about this piece. Now: can I manage this fine carving, and can I line up 5 colors? I think you can see the piece full size if you click on the image.

I hope that the director likes this, because I really want get started!

I'll get back to your print soon, Dancer...

#16 - Artist's Block

So there's a lot to like in this sketch... and a lot to struggle with. The face, for example. Faces are a challenge for me, and this one will only be one inch tall. Not much room to easily carve a fine face. Not only that, I redrew the face so many times that I wore a hole in the paper. The face is the first struggle.

The second struggle is similar to the reason why I don't decorate my house. Making artistic decisions that I'll be stuck with makes me freeze up. I spent half the day working on color for this, and it just isn't clicking. I know that the colors will be pink and brown, but what to do with them? I am going to use a different production technique for this: a plate for each color. That will give me more control, but it will also increase the options so much that I'm losing my ability to decide on one choice.

Maybe what I need with this piece is an unreasonable deadline that will force me to make decisions, and leave me no choice but to live with them. I need to remember: the key is to just keep producing and don't over think.

#15 - The Baby Is Born

The last color came out well. The size of the piece is 3x5, so this represents pretty detailed carving. I'm proud of that, and I also like the how the colors layer softly. The four colors give it a watercolor look.

My friend N gives it the stamp of approval, complete with exclamation points. That makes me happy!!!! She has to wait until Christmas to get it...

#15 - Second and Third Color on This Baby

A baby! One of my loyal readers will want to frame this and put it in a place of distinction... and another reader will want it for target practice. You know who you are! One more color to go on this print. I made 13, with no flubs thus far. I don't love this piece of art, but I hope that it will please my friend! I know that she likes things to be concrete, so I wanted to stick with a realistic image.

#15 - Tantilizing First Color!

Tongue very firmly in cheek. This is just to be playful with my buddy N who is waiting, sometimes even patiently, for her "baby" print. The wait will soon be over. Check in for the second color tomorrow evening. Oh boy!

Paper Woes

I went to go purchase the paper for my next print. The block is ready to go. I'm ready to go. But... the store was out of the paper I needed. I caved and bought one sheet of the absurdly expensive $6 paper, and had them carefully roll it up for me. Sometime today it got squished. Now it's a useless piece of $6 paper. Painful. On top of that, I have to wait until the store gets the paper I want. A first world problem, but no fun nevertheless.

On the bright side, I have sold two prints and made a surprising profit... which will go towards supplies, natch.

I'm Drawing

I'm still here. I was away from my studio for almost a week, so I wasn't able to do any printing. But, I did some good drawings that are eventually going to turn into prints. Hopefully magically and without pain! All the carving and printing makes my shoulder mad.

I got an email from a devoted reader while I was away. Here is her sweet and subtle request:
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Mrs. Macauley,

On your blog you said you didn't know what to do next for a print. Your could do a print of a baby for me!!!!!!!! (hint, hint!)

-N.

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So, I'm will fulfill that order, tout suite! : )

The dancer is turning into a portrait, which is more meaningful for me. I have yet to put pencil to paper, but I have a nice photo of an arabesque pose of a most beautiful dancer. That's motivating.


I have also finished a first draft of a neuron. I like it, but need to work on how to take it from a scientific illustration to something more like art. It needs a twist. This piece will be for a doctor I know who specializes in brainzzzz.

Hamlet and the Birthday Boy

I usually give my husband a variety of interesting beers for his birthday. This is much better, and will certainly last longer.

Thank you to my sister, Danielle, for blogging about my artwork today. Thanks for cheering me on! You can visit her entertaining blog about her life in Oklahoma at www.elleinadspir.com.

Seems like I have a long way to go. I keep hovering around my desk today wondering what to make next. I do want to make a dancer, but would like to sneak in a little 2"x3" print before I start that. I'm waiting for a dancer to appear in my head. That is always the first step for me, and trying to do any art without being able to envision it is an exercise in frustration. Waiting for inspiration...

Brush and Baren

Brush and Baren is a blog written by an amazing linocut artist named Sharrie Y. Her subject matter is nature, and her artwork is inspiring. She has just completed a large, 10 color reduction linocut that is truly fine. The process she went through is worth looking at, but if you don't have time to look at how she accomplished this piece, at least go and check out the finished product. Epic. 10 colors. 12"x16". Now that I know just how difficult this is, I stand in awe.
http://brushandbaren.blogspot.com/2010/11/longing-linocut-final.html

Print #14 - Lemur

 My little boy is not so little anymore, and will turn five soon. He was flipping through a wildlife magazine, and pointed to photo after and photo that I could "do a linocut of." So, I asked him if he wanted one for his birthday. Well, yes, actually, he did. We settled on a lemur. He's been delighted by every step of the process: watching me draw and carve, helping me a little with printing, generally being impressed. The color scheme for this print is Mint Chocolate Chip, because that's his favorite gum. Yes, gum.

I think I need to do reduction linocuts exclusively from now on. It forces me to do the whole print run. When I'm only doing one color it's easy to slack on not bother to print more than, say, one.

This print is a big confidence builder. My carving skills are allowing for finer lines, and I'm starting to understand some of the limitations in reduction prints, and becoming more savvy at avoiding problems. I'm looking forward to making complex, many colored reduction prints. A riot of color.

Print #13 - Hamlet, In the Bag

Happy with this. Happy, happy.

Print #13 - Hamlet - Ready To Carve

My favorite part of the process is the carving, and I get to dive right in now. Here's the final image on the block, in reverse, of course. I changed the proportions of the piece to fit on an 8x10 block, so that the final image will fit into an 8x10 mat. I like the balance of it better.

I thought on color and decided that if I want to add color, I will add it after I print the piece.

Print #13 - Making Progress on Hamlet

I redrew my Hamlet sketch, and I am pleased with the result. I think it needs a few tweaks, but otherwise it's far more deliberate and intentional than the first sketch, and I'm ready to call it done.

Now, to color. I have to think about that. I had not envisioned color when I saw it in my mind at first, but I'm willing to consider it. The look is rather Gothic, and I think color will soften that aesthetic, and bring more life into the image. I can also use color to emphasize the focal point of the face and skull. So, I will spend some time sketching with color, and will post what I come up with. I need to get rolling because I only have until the 28th!

My Printing Jig - Updated

March 6, 2011

Update:

That jig was just okay, and did work well for mounted linoleum. But, ultimately it was not worth all the work because you can simply go to McClain's Printmaking Supplies - www.imcclains.com - and get a Registration Board. Then use unmounted linoleum temporarily bonded to plexiglass. Use their instructions for using the registration board. This is MUCH better, and inexpensive too.

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When I was getting started with linocut, way back about three months ago, I quickly found that I needed something called a "jig" - a frame to hold the block in while I am printing. I cruised around on the internet and found a few homemade jigs to try to emulate. I made one, and it really stunk. I used flimsy materials, and it broke after a short time.

I made another trip to Home Depot to get supplies to make a respectable jig. My mother-in-law gave me a board that she used back when she was making cartoon illustrations for KQED. It's a solid board, and very smooth and straight. My husband had a neat solution for holding the block in place on the jig, but the easiest solution was duct tape. It just works, and it's cheap. There are metal guides on the sides for holding up the edges of the paper at the height of the block. The registration of the layers of color has been quite good, so I'm satisfied for now.

Thank you to my husband for building the jig for me. He is meticulous, and the jig is well built!

Print #13 - Sketching for Hamlet

Well, this is a very stereotypical image, don't you think? And so unapologetically Art Nouveau. Ahem. Just starting with what I like and know. I want to redraw this a few more times in order to really develop the design. I need to experiment with the look of it to achieve a decisive result. I just wanted to post this to show that I am working!

Print #12 - A Booklet

This is a little booklet I made for a dear friend whose mother is not expected to live much longer.

I created the image and printed it in black. I used gold powder to give it some shimmer, and added some of the background paper to create more depth. As you can see, I made use of the paper I had left over from making the tiger. I used scraps of the rice paper to create the pages, and pen and ink on squares of vellum for the verses. I was wary of ruining the book, so I wrote on the vellum instead of right in the book. A wise decision, as I did make a lot of mistakes.

I'm going to finish this off with a ribbon around it.

The verses are from Ecclesiastes 1:5-7.

I will probably make a limited edition print of this image, but for now I just used it as a book cover.

The Silly Harpist - Radiohead

This is The Silly Harpist whom I made a portrait of (Print #2). She is a talented harpist who makes excellent use of the little harp she has. She's also a generous and sweet person.

Print #11 - The Conclusion

Okay, so I didn't complete the print run... I only printed one. I will finish the run tomorrow. But, after all that work, I wanted to SEE it.

I selected a vibrant, handmade paper from India. I was concerned that the image would get lost in the color and texture of the paper, so I printed a rectangle of translucent yellow first. I can see this tiger/cat thing well on its vivid background, so I think it's successful.

I ought to have said in my previous post that this was a challenge to carve. I have never attempted something with lines this fine. I was concerned that it would be a washout failure, but I guess my skills keep on truckin', and was able to create what was in my mind.

I'm going to start sketching for the next piece. My husband has a birthday coming up, and has requested Hamlet as the subject. We expect that Hamlet is going to be a huge theme for our family in 2011. We will be studying it in Literature, and our daughter hopes to participate in the local youth Shakespeare's production of the play.

Print #11 - Carved

This is for my little nephew whose name sort of rhymes with coriander. He's turning one. I drew this when I got up this morning, but it's been in my head for a few days. I spent five hours carving. I did a test print, but you all will have to wait until I pull my first print to see the result. The critter depicted is supposed to be a tiger, but it's considerably more like a cat. Also, he came out quite French-looking. Like he might want to take your order. Overall, I think it will be a fun little print.

Print #10 - Mission Accomplished

The Recipient Displays the Art

Print #10 - Finished!

Well, the black did help quite a bit. She's actually not bad. Only a little in the fast food color scheme. She'll look spiffy in a frame with a jet black mat. Tomorrow the best print will be the birthday present. Perhaps the recipient might let me take a picture.

It was difficult to keep going on this print when it began to not match the image in my mind. But, it's better to keep going and let the mistakes be. They are the best teachers. Not every piece of art is going to be great art, and that has to be okay. I have made a gift for a friend, and have some prints left over to sell to people who might also like to have one.

I lost a lot of prints for the reason I predicted I would: printing the next color upside down. I began with 21 prints and ended with just 13.

Print #10 - Third Color - RED!

This is where reduction prints are very difficult. I think it will take a lot of learning to understand how the colors will look when overlaid. The red is struggling with an orange tint, which is not what I intended. Too much bright yellow lies beneath it.

The other brain bender with reduction prints is to remember to carve all the areas that need to be carved. Here I am on the third color, and only just noticed that I had forgotten to carve her hands to leave them white. Drat. My work around is only okay, and I printed several of the red run before I noticed. So, that's disappointing, especially on that expensive paper! I hope the final color, black, will just make this pop, and redeem it.

Print #10 - Second Color Drying

Hellooooo... My pretties!

Print #10 - Second Color

Peek-a-boo!

Well, I can see that the more expensive paper is worth the extra money. The ink just lays down on it better. I hope I can find a source for it that is more affordable.

I like how this print is turning out so far. The ink looks like suede. I have been using a sheet of scratch paper to flatten the ink on the print, and take off any extra ink. It has really made an enormous difference in the quality of the final product. The colors lay over each other evenly rather than building up into pebbly messes of sandpaper.

Print #10 - Drying

The ladies are drying.

Print #10 - First Color

Here is the first color of print #10. She's a Queen of Hearts for a friend of ours who is having a birthday on Friday. I thought this would be a good subject that would fit well in a man's home.

I'm trying Hosho paper for the first time. I'm also making some prints on Masa paper. Hosho is handmade rice paper, and Masa is machine made. Hosho costs about four times as much money. Honestly, I can hardly tell the difference between the two. Only my wallet knows for sure.

The challenge with the print is going to be making sure that the correct side is up since the bottom and top are nearly identical.

60, Or Bust!

I've just set up my store with ArtFire, and took a look at their advice for making a good start over the first 45 days. They strongly recommend that you have at least 60 items to sell in your store when you begin. Well, I have only 9 prints at this point, so I determined that I have some work to do in order to launch a proper store.

With the goal of 60 in mind, I am going to set to work.

I have an art background and a degree in graphic design from Cal Arts. But, life has intruded and kept me from spending time making art. That's all changed, and I have become focused on creating art on a daily basis to enrich my life and life of others.

For the last three months I have begun to learn the art of linoleum block printing. I have come a long way in a short time, as I have worked on developing my skills every day. I have learned so much about how to design, carve, ink and print. My prints continue to improve. I'm working to hone my technique as quickly as possible.

The other thing that has become evident to me is that I become very motivated to create when I make art for people in my life. In my efforts to reach 60 prints, I intend to make art for people I want to delight with a special gift.

I plan to blog about all of the prints I do, from today's (#10) to someday's #60. At the very least, it will keep me motivated while I work.