This method for creating a color print makes it possible to print more than one color a day. With the reduction printing method, the colors actually lay over one another, making a mess if you try to print before the first color is dry. But with this method, the colors just kiss at the edges. Today I was able to print two colors. Tomorrow I will do the blue and black, and then I will be done! Huzzah!

I have only wasted two prints, and both deliberately. I used them to test color and make judgments about registration issues. I would say that my skills have significantly improved since I made that previous playing card print. I planned well for this one. About a third of the time spent on this piece was planning. I thought that the final tally of hours spent on this print would be embarrassing, but it will only be about 70 hours.

I will post the final tomorrow, I hope!

#17 - The Comedy of Errors - Slap Happy!

Clique to Embiggen

Here it is! Well, a print of the black plate, anyway. I will scan this and transfer the image onto the other four blocks. Those will be EASY to carve by comparison.

I can hardly believe that I carved this. I'm looking at pieces I did just a few months ago, and the carving (while nice) shows that I had far less control over the blade. So, I wonder where the plateau is. Will I be an insanely good carver by the time I reach my 60 piece goal? I remember watching a little documentary about the making of the Incredibles. In it, the artists were told to "push", meaning: How far can you take this idea? Can it go just a little further? Now, can you push it even more? That's what I'm mindful of as I'm making a new piece. Push.

#17 - Comedy of Errors - Revised Sketch - UPDATE: Final Piece Added

SCROLL DOWN FOR FINAL PIECE

Pretty close to complete... I want to do a split fountain effect on the masks, blending in white. I may get rid of the lines coming out of the mouths since they are a little ambiguous. The changes I made are essentially ones that made it look more like a playing card. I added the hands and made the whole thing more of a mirror image. I think this accentuates the happy/sad drama mask difference since everything else is more consistent. I look at this and it seems decisive to me, and that's a goal I'm always shooting for with my art.

UPDATE:
This page gets a lot of hits, so I thought I would post the completed piece as well: