Cupcake update - Added the CAKE!

(Screen taped off and ready to go)

(Screen flooded with acrylic screenprinting ink)

(Cupcake print placed into registration)

(Cupcake cake color printed)

My basic steps to making a silkscreen print.  I have a large sheet of acetate (not shown) that I first print my color on.  I then position the paper underneath to line up registration.  I pull the acetate away and then drop the screen onto the print and pull the ink.

Only the black outline remains...only problem is...I haven't made that screen yet.

Cupcake Update

Added the icing this morning.  Didn't get to make much last week since it was the week before the holiday and my regular job picks up a good bit.  Wanted to start this week off getting back into the art making groove.

The icing color is not even close.  In this image it looks blue, but it's actually teal.  I tried altering it in Photoshop, but I just can't seem to get it right.  Next up is the cake color and then the black outline.

Cozy Cone Update! Sky Printed!

This evening I printed 2 colors - the sky blue and a shadow on the interior of the road cone.  I unfortunately forgot my camera at home so this image is courtesy of my phone (whose camera is rather lacking).

I have to reprint the blue one more times to cover up areas that were printed a little darker that it is covering.  I also am down to printing just brown and black and this project will be completed.

Cozy Cone update - Road Cone carving finished.

I've finally finished carving out the road cone on the Cozy Cone Motel Neon Sign.  The only sections that remain now are the cast shadows of the neon tubing.  I'm still making considerations on the color of the shadow.  Black seems the simplest and with time running out it may just be the simplest option...especially since I'm using it as the final color in other areas.

I should only have 3 colors left to print and the Cozy Cone should be finished.

Oaks Theater update

Oaks Theater - Marker Final

This is the final design for the Oaks Theater Linocut Reduction print that I'll be starting to work on soon.  Everything at this point has been retraced in Sharpie marker and is ready to have carving begun.

Cozy Cone Update!

This evening I printed 2 more colors simultaneously.  I normally do not like to print in such a fashion, but with time ticking down and 4 colors to go, I really don't have much choice.  I printed the red-orange road cone and printed white over top of the "Motel" section of the sign.  The original gray in that section was too dark for the neon tubing, but perfect for the cast shadow.

These are 2 detail shots of various sections.  I need to carve away most of the cone and the neon tubing that spells out "Motel".  Slowly getting excited about this piece.

Cozy Cone Motel updates

Spent most of the morning removing the neon tubing on both the car and the cone around it.  I also removed the shadows cast by the neon tubing for "Motel".  Hoping that the fact that I'm using the shadow color as a neon color up top doesn't make the project look funny in the end.

I initially figured this project to be six colors....by my current calculations though...it's more like 10 or 11.

Cupcake!!

7x7 Cupcake Screenprint

I've been trying to juggle so many projects at the moment that I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed, but continuing to push through them all.  This morning I pulled the cupcake paper color (yellow)  Lost 2 prints due to a first time-2nd color registration issue.

All registration is done by hand so it's initially a little hard to get the registration that I want.

Still trying to figure out if it's vanilla or chocolate.....

Oaks Theater Inking update

8x10 - Oaks Theater Reduction Linocut

Started inking the block up this morning.  This step is basically tracing the image in Sharpie marker.  I spent a lot of years in animation school and freelancing so I sometimes refer to something like this as inking..... =)

Cozy Cone Motel update

Here is the Cozy Cone Motel starting to shape itself up.  I'm not all the happy with the manner in which I've chosen to print this.  I usually ink the whole block and print, this time I chose to ink only the sections that needed printing.  I'm not liking the mish-mash that is happening, but overall it's still coming together.  I don't feel that I planned this piece out well enough and it's bothering me considerably, but I'm still moving forward with it because there is no going back now.

Detail shot of the Cozy Cone neon.  The actual letters of Cozy Cone are actually black so I'll be printing over the gray and yellow-orange-ish color in the next couple weeks.

Step 2 - Tracing/Transfer

Here is a picture of the original printed photo, the tracing and the final transfer onto the block.

This is a more detailed image of the tracing and transfer.  After tracing the image in 4B pencil onto tracing paper I place the drawing upside down so that the graphite side is in contact with the linoleum block.  I run them through my etching press and the pressure transfers the image from the drawing to the lino.

The next step is to re-trace the entire transferred image on the lino block in a water-proof and permanent marker (Sharpie) to secure the image to the block.

New Project - Oaks Theater

Oaks Theater WIP - 8x10 Linoleum Reduction Print prep

This is a new project that I'm starting.  I will keep it's more detailed updates on it's own separate page though I will continue to some of the updated images on this main page.

Check out it's Work in Progress (WIP) page by clicking the tab at the top!

Cozy Cone Update - Carving of Yellow Neon

These two images show the carved out sections where the neon tubing (yellow) uswed to be.  The next step is to print an area that I missed that was also yellow neon tubing.  That will then be carved away and the next color will be printed.  I think the next color will be the grey tubing for the "Motel" and other neon tubing.

Cozy Cone Update

There is always one.  I'm not paying attention and I put the lino block down wrong on the printing bed and I print that layer upside down....haha. =)

This is what it should look like...sorta...Photoshop was not friendly when I tried to turn up the color a bit.

I realized today that I forgot to ink the car in the cone.  It has the same color neon tubing that the "Cozy Cone" title has.  I still have enough time to fix though I think.  I still have 3 to 4 colors to go until it's finished.

Cupcake Screenprint

This is a new 7x7 screenprint that I've had waiting in the wings for me while I was learning different printmaking techniques.  I've had the screens prepared for this piece for probably 10 months and I pulled my first prints today....I was happy with the color and then I saw the inevitable "UGH".

Looks like I got a tiny bit more work to do.  Might as well check the other screens while I'm at it.  This little bump is along an outside border of the design....if it was on the inside I wouldn't be too concerned since it would get covered eventually.  Since it's on the outside though....I have to fix it. =)