A finished piece!! (with a side of updates)

TACO - Finally completed.

After printing that past color, I asked my wife what she thought...

She replied:  "Is it done?"

That told me that it was indeed not done.  The dark grey just seemed to close to the dark shadow green color.  I then printed black over top of the grey.  Unfortunately, the way that cameras work it appears in the image above that the black and shadow green are also similar...sigh.  They are not all that similar in person.

This is my first completed print of 2018 (even though it was started in 2017).

 

"a" - 10x10 - shadow red printed layer

This piece is down to two colors remaining.  I printed the shadow red last week and I must say that I'm very happy with that red.  Last time I printed a red with a shadow red that color turned out odd and I didn't like it very much after I finished printing.  

I learned about using a ready made color vs. mixing my own.  I will now always mix my own if it doesn't seem to be working out as initially intended.  Only a medium, dark grey and a dark grey/black remain for this piece.  Very happy with the registration as well with this piece.  It's very spot on.

Green Street - 8x10 - Shadow Blue

So this little buy didn't necessarily turn out as intended.  I get thrown off course by a colors transparency.  Some colors are very opaque while others....not so much.  This piece is an example of such....I printed a shadow blue over the blue house.  As you can see, the transparency of the blue permitted the yellow (which was printed earlier) to show through and thus creating a very dark green.

I'll be reprinting a more opaque version of the blue shortly.  This is the reason why I normally like to ink the entire block.  If I ink the entire block then whatever happens, happens in a uniform fashion.  This is what I get trying to cut corners and save ink.

I realize that this update was a little late and I apologize, but my wife and I went on an early February vacation (first time for something like this).  We are back though and I've gotten two newer pieces almost prepared for printing.  A 12x16 and a 16x20 (which will be the largest overall piece that I've tried at home).

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #printingprocess #updates #a #taco #GreenStreet

Tacos, A's and and two new bigger pieces!!

 

TACO

Taco is one color away from being finished.  After printing this dark green shadow color I had possibly planned on stopping.  I wasn't totally sure after printing that I was done so I gave it a couple days for me to look at and I've decided that I the dark green doesn't darken areas enough.  A few small areas are a very dark color...in this case, I think I'm actually going to go dark grey.

I did try printing a dark green that I had mixed with some of my inks, but it didn't lay right or print nicely onto the actual print.  Perhaps I'm learning, because after seeing that I wasn't crazy about how it looked I decided to blot the ink and set it aside.  I threw away the ink that I had mixed up and grabbed two tubes of my better ink and decided to mix my own green.

Initially I had used a Speedball Oil Based Green, Blue and Black to create the darker green.  The second time I used my Graphic Chemical Yellow and my Cranfield Traditional Relief Ink Ultramarine to mix a green.  I then added a small amount of black to it to darken it way up.  I really like the color of the Speedball Green since it is very vibrant, but it's quality is not up to the level of the other brands that I had to use.

I wound up with a dark Olive Green color (see pic above) that laid and printed very nicely.  I'm very happy that I've finally learned that if something isn't looking right....to stop, reconsider and just start over.  (It's the starting over part that is difficult, since I've already spent considerable time with the initial color that I mixed.)

This is all that remains of the block.  Just little pieces here and there that will get inked in a dark grey and printed.  Even though there is so little to ink up, the inking process I've found at this point generally takes longer.  After each inking I have to take a rag and wipe excess off of the block much more than on previous layers.  Happy that this piece will be completed soon and I'm ecstatic with how the registration turned out (for once) and the look of the piece in general.

"a"

I also printed the red background for the "a" project.  I love the ink that I used for this piece.  It's practically the perfect ink...Daniel Smith Oil-Based Red.  It's so smooth and creamy and perfect....too bad they stopped making printmaking inks a couple years back.  I have purchased some newer reds for when my two tubes of this color finally say adieu.

The "a" has 2 or 3 colors left to print...a shadow red, a medium grey and possibly a dark grey.  I'm very happy with how this piece is turning out as well.  Again the registration has been spot on and I've taken notice of how other artists (printmakers & painters) tackle those little round areas where the neon tubing drops into the surface of the sign.  These ones are the first ones I've ever made that I'm totally happy with.

The "a" is also ready for the shadow red.  I was very happy after printing the red that I immediately carved the block so that I'd be ready to print the next color.

Finally, I've started two new bigger pieces.  One that I just happened to love the photo that I used for reference and another that my wife has been asking me to make.  The reference for the piece she wants requires reworking since the sunshine was in the incorrect location when I got a picture of it.

Flo's - 12x16

The first piece is "Flo's" from the movie Cars.  Cars Land at Disneys California Adventure really changed my view of those movies and I fell completely in love with so many of the signs.  I just recently finished the initial drawing of the image and transferred it to the lino block.  I should be pretty far along with this piece when the next update here occurs.

"Ice Cream" - 16x20

This is the piece that my wife has been asking for....for quite a while.  I just didn't have any references other than other peoples photos from online and I wasn't comfortable using other peoples stuff.  There were multiple neon Ice Cream cones that we came across while in California, but this one from Disneys' California Adventure was the one that we both really liked.

Problem with this photo is though....there is no hard shadow on the side facing me.  I've decided to take a big leap and attempt to put the sun on that side.  I have a plan to replicate the cast shadow exactly and I'm really hoping it works properly.  It should....in theory.  This piece is going to take some time before it finally meets the lino to be transferred.

#art printmaking #linocut #lino #reductionlinocut #a #icecream #neon #taco #lightandshadow #printingprocess