#29 - Hamlet

I've been sketching out ideas for the poster for San Jose Youth Shakespeare's upcoming production of Hamlet. After trying a few different ideas, I think it's starting to gel into something good. Here's the latest:

Seems like a skull is a must do for a Hamlet poster, so this one is reflected in a mirror. Pretty spooky.
I like my sketch, but how to manage the layers and planning? I needed to try it out. I used little blocks and chose parts of the image to work on. I only spent a day on this, and carved at high speed just to get an idea of colors and layers. I still need to put another color on: gray to go over the skull in the mirror, and maybe to add some highlights to the plant life. The test print really gave me some good ideas of things to try, but it also showed me the pitfalls. I do see that a piece like this has to be planned out, every inch of it. Here's my sample print:

#28 - Better Color Scheme

This is happier! Good enough. Onto the next project.

#28 - Silly Harpist Redo

Again I learned a lot doing this print. Am I happy with it? No. The colors are wrong. I want to do it again with different colors. This one is just too dark and makes no sense.

The carving is very good, and it took hours and hours. I have come so far since I began doing linos about 9 months ago. Someday I will look back on this print and be amazed at how my skills again improved. Practice, practice, practice.

#27 - The Violin is Done!

I put this on the scanner wet:

Click to Embiggen

This print was an adventure. I got to go down new paths and make new discoveries around each corner.

#27 - Bet You Still Can't Guess What It Is . . .

Please excuse this woeful excuse for a photo. The camera batteries are dead, so iPhone saves the day. The darkest green is really much lighter, and the yellow is brighter. Trust me: it looks more harmonious. So, this is up to four colors, and I'm done with the first block. The next block will contain the mysterious creature, the flowers and some accents on the background. I'm very excited about it, and can't wait to get back into my studio to carve and print.

By the way, the press is amazing. The prints are so much cleaner, and it's now rare for me to completely flub a print. I can print lickity split. It used to take many moons.

#27 - Can You Guess?

I'm not going to reveal the sketch so you can watch the image unveiling.

Also:

A big, heavy pile of lino. This will be enough for at least 11 prints.

#26 - Better Image of Final