#22 - Peacock

I carved this with white lines instead of my usual black lines. I wanted the feathers to be very detailed and delicate. The size is 3x5. There aren't peacocks here, but I had some drawings of them in my nature diary. There are several up at a place called Pichetti Winery in Cupertino, and I sketched them years ago.

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 - 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.

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 - 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.