Delicious Cyan

My new inks have waxed paper skins that are placed over the ink to prevent the top of the ink from drying. This is a skin covered in copious amount of luscious cyan. Just right for spreading on toast!

Working with process colors (magenta, cyan and yellow) along with black and white has been even better than I anticipated. I can make the exact color that I have in my head. It's such a small thing, but colors are so important to me. My visually impaired friend lost his color vision when he lost his sight, and it is obviously a huge loss for him as an artist. I recently saw a video of a blind painter who determines color by the texture and consistency of the paint. Remarkable.

#20 - Between Meal Snack

I working on this little (4"x6") reduction print just for fun. Mostly to try my new supplies, and also as a gift. It will be four colors.

#19 - Redrawn Scoprion

I pitched the Day of the Dead motif. Too busy, and without the skull element, lacking. So, I came up with this drawing. I like it, and so do all my peeps. I'm not sure what motif this is. Maybe it's the "Karen likes it" motif.

I will do a final redraw just to get all the details worked out, and then start carving the black plate. The piece will be 6"x8" and will have 5 colors. I've switched to unmounted linoleum, so I won't have to use a whole piece for every color. The red and yellow-gold can be on smaller pieces.

I will be using my new Registration Board from McClain's Printmaking Supplies. It's similar to what I'm already using, but will work better (I hope!) Stay tuned.

Chick and Hen

My daughter drew these chickens for a graphic design job I got. We split the money because I did all the clean-up work and layout, but she certainly earned her portion. I could not have done anything like this. It's so whimsical.

#19 - The Scorpion Begins

Here's my first sketch for the scorpion I want to make. I think this needs lots more detail - encrusted with details in black. It looks too feminine right now, and I really am going for a masculine look. Also, the subject matter reminded me of the Day of the Dead style of art. I want to tip my hat a bit more intensely towards that. So, I probably have a few more sketches to go, but I'm off to a solid start.

I will make the scorpion stand out with heavier lines. I really like the bright colors - electric blue, yellow-gold and screaming red. I want it to jump of the page and sting you!

#16 - FINALLY Done!

This print was a registration nightmare, but... I learned a lot. I don't think my registration was lousy, but the artwork required perfect registration. Even an eighth of an inch was enough to ruin a print. I will do things differently next time.

The best part about this print was the element of danger of having only the most sketchy of plans. Working without a net forced me to be content with whatever I ended up with. Working towards perfection has it's good points, but I also want to be able to improvise. I learn more, certainly.

I ended up with nine good prints (out of 20). I've already sold one (thanks, Mom!).

#16 - The Dancer - Third Color is On: One More to Go

This is a marginal photo of the piece with the third color down. I do like it, and am looking forward to carving out the final color. I'm going to go with a deep copper color for the last highlights. I like all the little swirls in the this print, and the colors are pleasant.

It has been challenging to have no plan, but I think I did alright in spite of that. I suppose I'm just a very intentional artist, and I prefer things to be "known" before I dive in. I doubt I will do this seat-of-the-pants method again. I'm just going to be content with how this came out, knowing that I gave it my best shot.