B carving and the beginning of a new piece!

Hi everyone!

I have had a fairly productive week and though I have a good bit of stuff to update, I also have other things around the house that I need to get done tonight.  My first part of this update is that the "B" is carved and ready to be printed.  I'm hoping that I'll have some time tomorrow to print.  I only have two colors remaining on this print....red and shadow red.  It's always a good feeling when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel for a piece that you've been working on.

Next up is a new piece that I'm starting which is a neon "a".  The "a" actually comes from a previously failed piece that I had been working on.  About a year ago I was working on a print of the Las Vegas Harley Davidson Cafe sign (in Las Vegas obviously).

Here is a photo of the failed piece.  If you look closely you can see that the ink was not adhering to the previous layer of ink...or something...I was never able to figure out what went wrong, but I do believe it had to do with some older yellow ink that I was using.

I really loved how that piece was turning out and I'm currently working it into a larger piece as well...the one above was 9x12 and the current is 16x20 (if I remember correctly).  I also really liked how the "a" in this piece looked so I decided to blow it up into a 10x10" reduction.  I'm currently in the progress of tracing over the pencil lines with Sharpie marker and if time permits I should be finished inking it up and carving by Saturday.

Here is the current progress on the new neon "a" print.

Have a wonderful day/night and I'll update with more new pictures and info hopefully in another couple days.

#art #printmaking #linocut #linoprint #lino #reductionlinocut #neon #signs #printingprocess #carving #newprojects

Neon B - Utah Landscape update

Today I printed the next color on my neon "B" reduction linocut.  So far I've had 4 different versions of yellow printed.  Even the shadow on the neon tubing is a very warm yellow....it almost appears orange, but it's not.

Todays color was the shadow thrown by the neon tubing on the light yellow "B" lettering on the sign itself.  Other than those hiccups from the last printing, these prints are registering very well with very, very little deviation.  I'm very happy so far with the progress this print has been making and should be printing the next color very soon.

The color I used for this layer is actually a version of the color I just printed for the Utah landscape that I have in the works.  I found that by adding some Sepia to the yellow I could dull it down into more of a Yellow Ochre styled color (which is what I did on the landscape).  For this particular color, I added less Sepia than I did previously and got a very nice shadow color.

I'm also starting to advance on another 3x3 mini print, but find that I'm not all that fond of the image yet.  It's another landscape that has a lot more detail than the Utah landscape and it's a bit tough to identify areas on a 3x3 inch square so I'm starting to take small personal liberties with the image.

I've also been slowly carving away the Utah landscape lino.  Below is my current progress.  I'm really hoping that this works out.  I've seen so many fantastic linocuts of landscapes with grasses in them that I really, really want this to turn out.  I will say that if it doesn't then at least I've gained the "what-not-to-do" experience.  This one is almost complete and printing should begin once I get some free time, but with the American July 4th holiday around the corner - my work should be nice and busy.

Until next time!  Have a nice day/night.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #landscape #neon #linoprint #reliefprint #intaglio #B #yellow #carving #printing #printingprocesses #fineartprints

Got some updates to share!

Hello everyone!  These updates are becoming tougher and tougher as my regular jobs summer kicks in.  We are generally much busier in the summer months and though I'm still managing to get some work done, getting these updates out is a bit tougher.  Perhaps I'll attempt at smaller updates about individual projects.

To start off though, this past week I had the wonderful experience of selling my first "Diner" print to a dear college friend of mine.  I haven't seen him in quite a few years, but he had expressed interest in possibly buying one of the prints.  We met up for lunch and I must say that I had a wonderful time playing catch up with him.  We were both Art Education students and had a good many classes together and roomed together during a pre-student teaching experience in Philadelphia.  Even though a good bit of time has passed (almost 10 years out of college) and I had concerns that I wouldn't know what to talk about, I truly had a fantastic time meeting with him.  I am very proud that my Diner print has now found a home with him and hope to keep more in touch with him as the years go by.

 

I've also been spending some time working on the neon "B" project.  This past Saturday I printed the bright yellow of the neon tubing and like almost everytime I print in yellow...I had a problem.  The image on the bottom right above shows nice ink ridges that were formed when I ran the print through the press and pulled the paper off.  I've experienced this type of ink problem before with my failed Cafe print (which coincidentally used this same yellow ink).  I added some tack reducer to loosen up the ink and reduced the pressure on the press some more and still continued getting this issue.

I wound up scrapping an entire pile of ink and restarting from scratch.  I usually gather a large pile of ink and then break it down into what I need since I try to work with multiple prints starting with a same base color at the moment.  This time around I reduced the pressure of the press, lightened up the amount of ink I was putting on the lino and did a little bit of hand burnishing.

Thankfully that worked out for me and the bottom left image is the current status of that print.  I have already carved away the neon tubing and before starting this post, began the process of going over the lino block to make sure I didn't miss anything that needed carved.

I've also been spending some time on my Utah landscape.  Using that same yellow as with the "B", I added some Sepia to darken it up a bit to create a darker grass color.  I wanted a Yellow Ochre style of color and managed something that was a little darker, but I felt that it was perfectly fine for what I was doing.

I don't feel that there is much exciting happening with this particular print quite yet, but within the next color of two things should really start to take shape.

I'll do my best to work on smaller updates to keep anyone reading this a little appraised of the situation of my work.  Thanks for reading.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #linoprint #printingprocesses #yellow #neon #sign #B #reliefink #reliefprint #Utah #grass 

I've been slightly busy - Longer than normal update post!

Shake Shack - 3x3" - 5 color reduction print

Hello again!  It's been a pretty crazy time at my regular day job and I've been working quite a bit.  I do manage some time each week to work on some of my printmaking and usually it's about 5 hours a week....all at once.

Since my last post I've finished both of my initial mini prints that I've been working on.  The image above (Shake Shack) was the first one to be completed.  I had planned on 5 colors and somehow actually ended with that many.  I have a tendency to add colors to each print and make it harder than it should be.  I'm pretty happy with this little print and think it turned out pretty well.  I really like the shadow along the bottom of the print and think they worked out real well.

M - 3x3" - 6 color reduction print

I also finished up the neon "M" mini print as well.  I was loving this print right until I printed the final color.  The last color was a dark, dark grey which was used for the little elements that hold the neon tubing off the surface of the sign.  In my opinion, it looks sloppy and I know that they've previously given me issues on other prints so I'm going to have to start looking for better ways of indicating those pieces.

The dark, dark grey also very heavily contrasts with the rest of the print which I feel flattens out the image.  It doesn't look awful, but I think I'll be taking another stab at this little print.  I like it, but feel that I can do better.  The shadow red also printed oddly and doesn't have nice sharp edges like the other colors.  I wanted to complete the piece though and so I did.  If I try this print again, it will be the 4th time that I've attempted it.

 

I've also been busy working on the Utah landscape print.  I previously printed the shadow areas of the clouds in a lavendar color and printed a light yellow over top.  The yellow will be areas of grass which I started briefly carving into the block today at work.  Originally I wanted to keep this print to around 6 colors, but starting to think that I'll be printing somewhere closer to 8.

I also printed a white layer over the Green Street print that I started a while back.  I'm only printing 5 of these prints as I'm really unsure as to how they are going to work out.  I have high hopes, but also know that for a first time attempt that things are probably not going to work out as I hope.  Guess we'll see with this guy.

I also like that it's attached to a that piece of book board.  The registration should have no errors, but sheesh....is it hard to carve.  I like to rotate the block all around so that I can get the best possible angle when carving and that board that it's attached to really gets in the way.

Also....

I printed a white layer over the light yellow of the neon B that I've been working on.  Printing the white has done a good job of lightening up the back and should allow for a easy application of Hansa Yellow layer.  I don't recall if I mentioned or not in a previous post, but I accidentally carved away the wrong area of the neon tubing and had to either scrap the project or find a way to fix it.  I chose to fix it and so far it's been working out.

I also think that since I'm not completely fond of how the M worked out with the black that I may carve out the pieces that hold the neon now and allow them to be a color closer to clear than black.

I'm very excited about the progress of this particular print and that I've been able to work around my initial carving error.

I'll be working again this coming Saturday and will probably start work on a couple other projects very soon.  I have some different ideas that I'm interested in trying out.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #neon #prints #workinprogress #printingprocesses #Shakeshack #LasVegas #NV #Nevada #M #YMCA #Pittsburgh #PA #Pennsylvania

Getting ready for some printing

I have some time tomorrow to do some more printing and I've got my ink and desktop both ready to hit the ground running when I wake up.

I've carved both of the mini prints to the next step.  This is the final color for the Shake Shack print and second to last for the neon "M".  I've also got my paper prepared for the Utah landscape that I started a little while back and also think I may be ready for printing of the La Rose Shop.

After printing the last color of the La Rose Shop, I wasn't really sure where the next color was exactly going to be.  The side of the building that the sign resides on has been painted over multiple times and shows the wear and tear of weather as shown in the pics below.

Parts of the sign are actually the same green as some of the painted wall.  I've carved away some of the brick work as well as partial bricks in hopes of showing left over paint.  I'm printing the brick color which will also be used for the painted "La Rose" lettering.  Just hesitating on this one while I make sure that I'm doing exactly what I want to.  Hoping to get in printed soon, but the minis and the landscape come first.

Also looking for additional ideas for more mini prints.  I have a lot of reference photos so hopefully I'll get some good ideas soon.  Have an idea for a landscape as well in these....it's just so small that it concerns me to try to it.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #linoprint #reductionprint #minilino #ShakeShack #M #YMCA #LaRoseShop #printingprocesses

I have not fallen off the planet.

Hi everyone!  So I've taken a little more time away from updating than I had hoped.  I am still quite around, but I've been spending a little more time exploring with my wife and working a little overtime at my job to help support our light travelling habit.

Anyhow, I have managed to get a couple pieces worked on since my last post.  First up is the mini, 3x3" neon "M".  I printed the 3rd color to this piece this past week.  I needed a color that was ever so slightly darker than the previous color and added some violet (purple) into the previous left over 2nd color to cool it down a bit....basically a medium light grey into a medium light grey with a blue-ish cast.

The difference is noticeable to the eye, but the camera does not notice that difference what so ever.  I tried toying around with the image in Photoshop, but to no avail.  Below is the updated image...next color up is red.  I'm excited to print that color as it will almost completely pull the little print together.

I also used the medium light grey used in the "M" to also print out an edition of 5 for the Green Street lino that I started a little while back.  This is my first attempt at doing a city street.  The original image, as stated in a previous post is just up the street from where I live.  I'm a little weary about how this piece is going to actually turn out so that's why I decided to keep the edition size rather low.  It is also the first time that I'm attempting to do a linocut while the linoleum is taped down onto a rigid board.  It's much harder to carve since the board sticks out and prevents the piece from sometimes being spun to angles that make it easier to carve.

Here is the linoleum which has been carpet taped down to this piece of thick book board.  I'm also using Ternes Burton registration pins to assist with this piece.  The block in this image has also been inked up with the grey and below is the first printed image.

There is a lot of detail to this piece and the carving seems to be going fast, but I'm constatly finding places that need carved.  Before printing the next color I plan on working from left to right on the block and making sure that all areas that I want removed have been carved away.  I can definitely say though that I am not unhappy with this piece....I'm probably looking at a good 8 or 9 more colors.

Finally!  There is also the Shake Shack mini print.

Again....same color grey.  I used it on multiple prints as to better coordinate my printing and allowing me to print multiple projects as quickly as I could.  This little guy is carved out already and ready for the shadow grey which will probably just be a much darker grey than what is shown here.  It will then be finished off with a very dark grey...one that is very close to black.

I like using black, but find that it sometimes overpowers the print due to the extreme in contrast.  I discovered this issue during the FU print.  I really wish I had not used black as the final color.  To me, the black just overpowered everything on the print.  Lesson learned....very dark grey instead.

I will be doing some printing this week so I promise to get the next update out as soon as possible.  I may even print tomorrow night....maybe the M or maybe even the Shake Shack.  Carving on the La Rose Shop has also started and should be completed relatively soon.  I'm going to do a little research on how to make a nice brick red color (though I do have some ideas).

Til next time!

#art #printmaking #linocut #lino #reductionlinocuts #linoprint #printingprocesses #shakeshack #YMCA #Pittsburgh #GreenStreet #Greensburg #PA #LasVegas #NV

Different type of work day equals some time for art.

 

So today I'm not working my regular shift and have the morning off.  Since I had some of that time off I decided to finish up some carving on the "B".   I considered printing the next color, but have other projects that I need to advance.  At least I've completed carving away the light yellow of the letter of the actual painted letter.

The image on the left is the completely carved block which is ready for printing while the one of the right is the progress that I had made previously while on break at work.  I do want to double check to make sure that all of the areas are appropriately carved out and that I didn't miss anything.

I also decided to print the shadow on the neon tubing for the 3x3" Shake Shack mini-print.

So far the yellow and light green of the tubing have been printed and I've even carved this block so that it's ready for the color in a couple days.  According to my notes I still have to print a light grey, dark grey and either a black or a very dark grey.....probably a very dark grey.  It always seems to work out better than black.

I've also torn up some paper and started placing registration tabs on them for the Utah desert/bluffs linocut that I've started.  I'll be honest when I say that I really don't know what to call them.  I'll be excited to get that piece started as I don't do many landscapes and it's definitely something I want to learn to do better.

I'm also starting to play with some other images from Zion National Park, but for the moment it's simply just playing with them until I perhaps get them to a point where I'm comfortable with them.

Below are the photoshopped versions of the photos.  I sometimes use photoshop to try and break a photo down into simpler forms as things can sometimes be a bit overwhelming with all the information, colors and variations.  I've been working with the bottom left the most as the way the rock seem layered over one another really appeal to me.

 

 

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #ideas #printingprocesses #carving #printing #ink #B #BucaDiBeppo #neon #sign #landscape #Utah #ZionNationalPark #photoshop