Category: Prints

So now I’ve cut the main portion of my “Winter print” for the print exchange. One more linoleum block to go….

The following decisions still need to be made:
– Do I still want a third layer? (yes)
– Which images will be the top/middle/bottom?
– What paper to print on?
– How will I line up the print on the paper?
– What colors will I use?

Between taking this picture and posting it, I’ve tried out this super bright blue color for the snowflakes… which is NOT going to make the final cut…

Left side = layer 1 of the winter print I am working on. Eventually there will be 3 blocks to be printed in 3 colors (resulting in a 3-color print). I’ve only finished this one so far. I have until January 15th to finish the rest of the cutting, print 30 copies, and send them to a printing press in California….. so really, it woudl be best if I finished these and put them in the mail by January 12th. wish me luck.

Right side = 3 layers of the same print in different colors and rotated each time. I don’t think it’s a very good outcome, but I’m glad I tried it out. If I would have stopped at just 2 layers, you would have said “hey, that’s pretty neat!”. Next time I say “hey, that’s pretty neat!” I’m either stopping or taking a picture before continuing to prove that it *was* neat.

Here’s the first draft of his birfday invites:

Notice that in the original sketch (sketched during a mandatory 4 hour work meeting, of course 🙂 i ran out of light to finish the rt-hand border – they dimmed the entire auditorium for the last hour and a half or so) the border was much bigger…. I couldn’t find any linoleum locally that was the right size to make this happen. What you see here is the biggest piece i could find (6.75″ x 11″) …….. plus i realized that I’m so out of practice with my linoleum/wood carving skillz that I needed some practice before trying to create intricate details:

Ummmm… i got sidetracked… i was going to do the entire 26 print edition tonight, but…. it’s already almost 11pm. i guess i’ll do it later this week. So far, I have 3. The plastic sleeves haven’t arrived in the mail yet, anyway, and I still have to write a (small) something or other to send in along with the prints, too. ugh.

What I’m trying to decide is whether to:
A) add background color? (if yes, what ones?)
B) vary the print color – either via ink changes or paper changes? (is it kosher to vary the ink color i use w/in an edition? I think I may get tired of printing entirely in black on very white paper by the end of the run….)
C) I could just start working on those other blocks, since in a moment of crazed internet use ala Gerald inspriation I ordered a bajillion of them….

I’m procrastinating… so here, have a series of three lithographs to look at. This was one of my favorite projects in a class full of pretentious are students…. ok, that was a little harsh. Some of them were nice, and eventually the professor and I came to a kind of unspoken understanding. As far as I was concerned it was along the lines of: “if you don’t ask me to art speak then in return I’ll try every single one of the techniques you teach at least three times”.

(By the way, this litho of mine is based on someone else’s art work. I forget who did the original, but the professor was annoyed that I started with an image awfully similar to someone else’s work. oh well. I still got an A 🙂