F U - Fuel and Fuddle - New Linocut!!

F U - 8x10 reduction linocut preparation.

Wanted to finish printing the Oaks Theater today, but it's very, very cold outside (it's 13 degrees right now) and since I usually open a window and use a fan to draw the fumes out I figured today may not be the best day to do do.

Instead I started working on a new reduction print.  Not sure what it'll eventually be titled, but for now it's just referred to by myself as F U.  I printed a cropped 8x10 version of a neon sign for a Pittsburgh restaurant called Fuel and Fuddle and traced it.  I also use my computer screen with the original image to help me decide where shadows are placed and where different details that don't always show through tracing paper are.

Below is a detail of the tracing process as well as a photo of the original sign for the restaurant.

 

#art #printmaking #pittsburgh #fuelandfuddle #neon #universityofpittsburgh #412

Oaks Theater update #4billion!

Oaks Theater - Start to Finish

I finally have finished carving away the block for the Oaks Theater.  A final layer of ink on a couple of the prints is currently drying and once they are done then I will print the final color (black)!  I'm excited to finally finish this print up and it looks pretty good I think.

Started this project in May 2015 and it'll be exciting to finally finish it.  When working in the reduction method and being fairly new to printmaking there is no going back when mistakes are made.  The fear of messing up has cause me to procrastinate a lot on this particular print as well as the "B" neon print which is almost done as well.  Glad I've finally managed to push through that fear and work on this print fairly consistently.

Zion National Park lino - Alternate color schemes

 

Finally finished the Zion National Park linos today.  Wanted to add some color to them so I created a roll of multiple colors to do so.  It was my first time rolling more than one color together at the same time and it was an interesting learning experience for me.

Image on left is a 4 color roll.  It includes red, orange, yellow and a tan-yellow (which all but disappeared).  The image on the right is red and a red-orange.

Had some issues with the ink being to thick when rolling it out.  Some of that thick ink worked it's way into the detail areas of the block and removed a good bit of them.  I tried cleaning out those areas in between prints, but in cases it was well entrenched.

Very happy to have finally finished this particular block and to have tried something new.

Zion National Park - 8x10 - 3 Color reduction lino

This is the final piece for the first edition of 6 for this print.  The colors are simply, blue, grey and black.  I initially made 12 of the blue and grey backgrounds and decided to print 6 black and print the other 6 at a different color.

I still also have to print the alternate orange and blue background as well.

Very happy to have a final piece though.

#art #printmaking #lino #linocut #zionnationalpark #nationalparks #landscape #mountain #utah #reductionprint

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