Oaks Theater update - Carving down to black

Starting to carve away the dark grey areas so that I can get down to only areas (mostly colored in black already) that will be printed black.  Shouldn't take too long since there isn't much left of this block to carve away.

Oaks Theater update! Dark Grey and 1 to go.

Oaks Theater - 8x10 reduction linocut

Here is the next stage of development for the Oaks Theater print.  I printed the dark grey today with is mostly shadows.  Glad that this print is really moving along.  I'm considered re-printing the dark grey a second time as the coverage was not prefect on some.  You can see the lack of coverage around the "K" on the one above.  It's a little spotty.  They are literally pin holes, but they are showing up.

The image to the right is my test print.  Originally it was supposed to be part of the series, but after a really bad printing I decided that I would use it to test subsequent colors on it.  Every color except the dark grey was printed on it.  You can see the grey swatches on the right part of the image though.  As I mixed my inks I would test them to see how they looked against color they would be contrasting against.

One color to go. =)

 

Heinz Field Logo - 8x10 reduction linocut

FINALLY!!!  Printed the first color this morning and so far it looks fantastic!  Guess we'll have to see how this one plays out.  I've learned the hard way how colors affect one another when they get printed over top of each other.  It's not always pretty.  Colors change to colors that you do not want.  High hopes for this one.

#art #printmaking #pittsburgh #pittsburghsteelers #steelers #heinz #heinzfield #ketchup #football #nfl

Current state of affairs - Oaks / Zion

 

I have my block for the Oaks Theater print carved down to the final two colors.  Problem is, I've discovered a section that should've been carved away.  Ugh!!!  Guess I'll be adding another color.

Zion in slowly coming along.  The right half of the block was carved before I decided to add in some sky so it's a different color than the middle section that goes to the left.  The far left of the block is still not carved and I should have that finished sometime today.

Progress.  Very excited to finish both blocks to see how they turn out.

Zion National Park - Sky Color Update

So my wife really thought that this two color piece really needed a sky blue.  I was very skeptical because her favorite color is blue and she always wants blue somewhere.

I did it anyhow and really like how it looks on the gray.  Not so crazy about on the orange which is strange considering they are complimentary colors and are supposed to look good together.

I now need to just finish carving the block and allow this blue to dry before being able to print the final color(s).

Zion National Park update - Let the carving re-begin!!

This is a picture of the block and the current carving progress.  I'm about 1.5 hours into the carving (starting bottom right) and I've only carved about 2 x 2.5 inches worth of linoleum.  The detail is so small that I have to use the smallest gouge to carve these areas away.

It's a good thing I have the Heinz Field sign block ready to print because carving this is going to take some time.

Zion National Park - Alternate Color

Zion National Park Linocut - Alternate

I made a small run with some remaining ink from another project.  I wanted to create an orange-ish print that would remind me more of the colors of the area.  Not saying that this is absolutely accurate, but wanted to try something different with this print.

A part of me is wanting to turn this into a color print.  For some reason my brain is screaming for a blue sky.  I'm going to think it over, but I'm not sure I want that 3rd color.

#art #printmaking #ZionNationalPark #landscape #orange #nationalparks #Utah

Zion National Park - 1st color printed

Zion National Park - 8x10 (print) - 9x11 (papersize)

So this morning I decided to print my Heinz Field sign linocut, but instead made the ink too dark for the first color and realized it was more the color I wanted for this particular print.  So....change of plans.  I made 11 prints of this particular image and I'm considering printing a few with a light redish-orange color which would be more accurate for the area.

These were my first ever clouds I've carved and printed.  I like the ones on the right, but not really digging the one in the upper left.  Maybe because it's underneath and I'm just not liking it.

Oaks Update - Sky printed

Finally got around to printing the sky last night for the Oaks Theater print.  I'm not a big fan of printing such a tiny section, but sometimes it's a little bit easier when you don't have a large brayer to apply the ink with.

Some of the ink on the first couple prints didn't apply as well as I would have liked so I'm going to hold off carving this one until the ink dries and I can reapply it to those first couple prints.  So hopefully in about 2 weeks I'll be printing the second to last color on this print.

I do have other blocks that are prepared to print including Zion National Park and Heinz Field.  Both of which need have the first color printed for both and if I'm not mistaken they are both light gray.

#Art #Printmaking #Pittsburgh #OaksTheater #Oakmont #Theater #Reductionprint #Linocut

Zion National Park update

These were the final carvings I did for 2015.  I finished carving the highlight whites for this block during the week of Christmas.  I've been too busy to really get to anything else.

The bottom shot is a detail of some of the highlights.  As long as I don't get the ink on too thick everything should work out pretty well.

I'm planning on making different types of prints with this one.  I'm going to do a 2 color reduction and then also a single color print of what remains after I get to the point where I need to carved the rest of the grey away (just leaving the black).  Hopefully soon.

#ZionNationalPark #Zion #Nationalparks #art #linocut #printmaking #landscape #mountains #Utah