"B" and La Rose updates!

I really wanted to get to this update as quickly as possible instead of waiting for an entire week to put it up.  Here is the second printing of the neon B.  I made a small carving error and since I had no easy direction to go I decided to move forward and somewhat backwards with my printing.

I'll wait until it's completion to inform you of the error and may actually print a lighter color (white) next in an attempt to fix what I've done.  If you've done this kind of work before it may be simple to figure out the error, but so far so good with what I've done.  The next color may be a make or break stage for this piece.  Registration though is dead on, which is great.

I also printed the La Rose Shop this morning in a light green.  These colors (light grey, light yellow and light green) are not exciting me very much.  They are all very muted and now I'm worried that perhaps I've gone to light on the color pallet.

It is nice to actually get some definition to the print and the color proof that I pulled before printing actually looks very nice in my opinion.  I still need to take a picture of the proof which I will edit into this post later.  I do have some other things that I have to take of today so I hope you all are having a great day!

#art #printmaking #linocut #linoprint #lino #reductionlinocut #neon #B #lightyellow #lightgreen #LAROSESHOP #Greensburg #PA #Buca #Pittsburgh

So many projects...

Here are four of my current projects that are in the process of being worked on.  These do not include the street scene and/or the Utah landscape that I'm working on.

It's been a week since my last printing where I printed the two closest with the yellow (as shown).  The yellow for those prints is the first color for the "B" and the small 3x3 Shake Shack logo.

The La Rose Shop up top is completely carved and ready for printing.  I've also finished carving away the "B" and the small neon tubes of the Shake Shack logo and I've begun the highlights for the neon tubing of the "M" as well.  Though I'll admit to running into a small issue with the "M"...hopefully I can fix it and it won't be a big deal.

Below are some of the pics I've taken after working some of the pieces this past week.

3x3 Shake Shack - neon tubing carving

"B" neon tubing - shadow area carving

I should have some more work finished up shortly, hopefully tomorrow and an update shortly thereafter.

#art #printmaking #linocut #linoprint #lino #reductionlinocut #neon #sign #printingprocess

La Rose Shop - 2nd color printed

Printed the 2nd color for the La Rose Shop linocut on Thursday.  The second color is a light yellow so the excitement here is pretty muted since the contrast between the grey and yellow is not very noticeable.

The most noticeable area is at the bottom left and top right.  In the middle, very lightly is are the neon tubes as well as some brick work down the left hand side.  As I print the next couple colors, these areas should really start to pop more.

Here is a larger detail shot that shows the bricking and a couple of the letters.

 

Here are also two shots of the carving process as I'm now removing the light yellow area.  The image on the left shows the carving around the letters.  I use a small V-gouge to trace/carve around the letters and then go back in with a larger U-gouge to remove the large areas around them.  Though I've carved around the shop, I find myself currently working up to the top at the moment.  There is a decent amount of carving between the letters, neon tubes and shadows so for some reason I've become drawn to those areas.

I have a couple other projects I hope to get printed this coming week and they'll probably get printed before I'm even capable of finishing the carving here.  We'll see though....it would be nice to get 3 projects printed and this one carved and printed.

#art #printmaking #linocut #lino #linoprint #reductionlinocut #LaRoseShop #neon #sign #Greensburg #PA #swpa #vintageroadsign #vintageneon

Printing has commenced!!

I've been a little quiet lately as the Easter holiday has ramped up at work and I've had little time to spend printing and working on new works.  Fear not though!!  I've been taking pieces small enough to work and I've been carving them on breaks.  What I cannot take to work I do work on at home.

I have multiple projects that are currently using similar colors and was looking for a day to print each one.  This past Thursday (now almost a week ago) I got to print two of the four projects that I have started.

The La Rose Shop was the first to be printed and used a majority of the light grey ink that I mixed up.  I knew it would take a lot of it as the print is 9x20".  The light grey is the shadow area of the neon tubing and also doubles as the mortar between the bricks on the sun highlighted side of the building.  I'm expecting that this print will top out somewhere around 8-9 colors.  I should be printing the color very soon...possibly even in the morning tomorrow.

I've also started a series of 3x3" prints which I plan to submit to an exhibition.  I've never worked this small and the carving is already giving me new challenges.  The very first color for this neon "M" lino is the same grey as used on the La Rose Shop above.  The entire block was inked as this color will be used for the background of the sign.  I've been carefully carving away the sections and will print a slightly darker grey for the neon tubing color and then yet another for the shadow on the tubing.  I'm thinking that this print should top out at around 6-7 colors, but I'm honestly leaning more towards the 6.

Anyhow, I promise to try and update sooner than I did this past time.  Talk to you all soon.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #neon #LaRoseShop #Greensburg #PA #swpa #sign #M #YMCA #Pittsburgh