Wild Tree – Print/Watercolor Hybrid

Wild Tree – Print/Watercolor Hybrid, a photo by Serendipity Artist on Flickr.

I had planned to make this a three color moku hanga print, but I didn’t like the way it was coming out. So for this print I decided just to print the black and loosely watercolor the rest by hand. Each print will be variations on a theme.

size: 3.5 x 2.5 inches

ink: Akua lamp black printed moku hanga style with steel ball baring baren. Handpainted watercolor.

paper: hot pressed 150 lib. watercolor paper

 

Tree sketch for next tiny print

Tree sketch for next tiny print, a photo by Serendipity Artist on Flickr.

Since I had so much fun doing the last tiny print, I decided to try another one. This one is a three-color print. Although this is much more challenging than the previous one-color print, the way it is designed will not require much registration precision (at least that’s the hope). I’m not sure about color schemes yet. This is just a Photoshop idea. I am still working on some color tests with real pigments.

As I have begun carving this, I am starting to think that it may be better suited to a larger size print. I recently read a recommendation that when scaling up a work one should adhere to the simplicity of the smaller work, so if I do make it bigger I will try to follow this advice.

 

Tree sketches – working out ideas for my next print

Tree sketches, a photo by Serendipity Artist on Flickr.

Sketching out ideas for my next print. I liked working in the tiny 2.5 x 3.5 inch format so much that I decided to do another print this size – this time with color. I’ll be coloring outside of the lines, so to speak with this print and not fussing about registration. The lower left sketch is the one I am developing now.

 

Paper stack ready for Baren exchange #50

Paper stack ready for Baren exchange #50, a photo by Serendipity Artist on Flickr.

It’s a mini print exchange to celebrate Baren’s 50th print exchange – 101 prints, each 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. I’m making this easy on myself by doing a one color print. I will be spreading the color (Akua) with a roller and printing on dry Nishinouchi paper. You can see a hint of the block in the background here. More to come later . . .

 

Watercolor Collage Sketchbook

Softly Dreaming, a photo by Serendipity Artist on Flickr.

I have recently started a sketchbook to help me play with some imagery using collage and watercolor. Keeping a sketchbook gives me the freedom to explore simple ideas without having to worry about creating a finished work of art. I am hoping to also incorporate some printing into these sketches.

 

A Network

One of challenges of being a field librarian at the School of Art & Design is getting to know everyone in this constantly changing sea of creativity. Librarians, like most business people, typically hand out business cards as a way to leave their mark, but in a school where the students, faculty and staff do the mark-making, this just didn’t seem like quite the right approach. I started handing out my business cards and asking people to use the card to create a drawing or some type of artwork that I could include in an artist book. This usually led to a longer conversation and later, when the card was returned, I felt like we had started to know one another. I handed out many more cards than I got back, but the ones that did come back were fabulous expressions that wove their way nicely into this book. I am a librarian, so what better way to document this interaction?

This book is currently being exhibited at the Work Gallery in Ann Arbor. The Exhibition runs from August 12 through September 2, 2011.
Closing Reception: Friday, September 2 from 6 – 9 pm.

 

Night Sky, Canada Lakes

Night Sky, Canada Lakes

Originally uploaded by Serendipity Artist

After making the Birches print, I got inspired to change it up a bit with a night sky and a bit more detail. The image is based loosely on a photo, with a lot of imagination thrown in. I also checked a star chart to get the stars more or less correctly placed. I was happy to see the wood grain coming through as it gives it a sort of Aurora Borealis look.

 

Poppies Triptych – Testing Print I

Poppies Triptych – Print I (test)

Originally uploaded by Serendipity Artist

This is a test print for print I of the Poppies Triptych. The test is basically to double-check for alignment issues. The colors are a bit off and I need to make some further tests later on to get the color exactly right and consistent for each print in the triptych.

This week I am carving the blocks for print II of the triptych, but I won’t get as much done as usual because I am off to Milwaukee for a few days to attend the Art Librarians Society of North America – Midstates Chapter meeting. Can’t wait to see the Milwaukee Museum of Art.

 

Poppies Triptych – Tricks for accurate registration

Thanks to Annie B. for her tip about putting the straight part of your kento farther about 2/3 of the way down from the “L” cut. That’s great advice for getting accurate registration and I plan to use it for these prints!

I am also using a slightly modified version of a tip that I learned from Graham Scholls DVD: The Art of Coloured Woodblock Printmaking (thanks Graham!). He advocated using a sheet of frosted mylar over a sheet of graphite carbon paper facing toward the mylar. By taping these layers over a carved block, one can use a baren to take a rubbing of the block without all the mess of inking it up. The image will transfer to the transparent mylar which you can then position over your next block to check for accurate registration.

Here are some images where I have actually made a graphite rubbing over a blue transfer paper rubbing to check the alignment.

I take this one step further by actually placing the corner of the mylar sheet into the kento registration cuts of my first block. Before carving the kento into my next block, I line up the second carved block with my transferred image of the first block. Once I get them perfectly aligned, I tape down the mylar. Then I take my kento knife and place the flat edge of it right up against the mylar corner and press down to make the initial corner kento (kagi) cut. I do the same thing 2/3 up the side to make the side kento cut (hikitsuke).

I have now finished all four blocks of the first print. I will post a test print soon.

 

Poppies Triptych – Planning the order for carving and printing

This week I finished carving the first two out of twelve blocks for the Poppies Triptych.

I am carving this series in a specific order that will aid in alignment of the blocks. For each block the carving order will be:

1. Medium Green
2. Dark Green
3. Yellow
4. Orange

Because the dark green is printed over the medium green, I find it easier to carve the medium green first and then use it as a guide to align the dark green (for the same reasons I carve yellow before orange). I will go into greater detail about how I align the blocks in my next post.

I will be printing lightest to darkest to take advantage of the transparent qualities of the colors, so the printing order for each block will be:

1. Yellow
2. Orange
3. Medium Green
4. Dark Green

I’m not sure that any of this orderliness is strictly necessary, but it seems to help my old brain. With so many blocks it’s easy to get lost. You may notice from the photos that I have even labeled each block.