I'M BACK!! And I've gotten a little bit done...

So I've been back from vacation for a little under two weeks and was very excited to get back into the groove.  I'm really pushing to get this La Rose Shop piece done.  The image on the left I did the day after I got back from vacation and I just printed the image on the right yesterday.  The colors weren't initially what I was thinking, but they are starting to grow on me slightly.

A part of me really wishes I had just done a flat color on both sides of the sign rather than the bricks, but...it's too late now.  I have a color that will print over a couple of the bricks and then I can print the color for the letters, the sky and the shadow for the neon tubing that is cast onto the letters.

So only 3 colors to go before this piece is finished.

This is the current state of the block as of yesterday while printing.  I have currently carved a good portion of the inked area away.  I did leave a part of the left hand side of the block in place so that it could bump up against my registration setup.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #lino #linoprint #reliefprinting #laroseshop #greensburg #pa #neon #retrosignage #neonsign

I've waited almost 3 years for this....

So it's been a while since my last post.  I'm slowly...and I do mean slowly, carving away the brick areas on the La Rose Shop piece.  I'm also preparing a couple new pieces and bought some additional paper a couple days ago to start printing those pieces.

Art for me lately has been pushed to the side as I've been focusing on getting ready for a vacation that I've been planning and saving for for the last 3 years.  Getting ready includes cleaning the house, making sure that my wife and I have everything that we could possibly need and the beginning of packing.  I usually wait for the last couple days before to start this process, but this time I want everything ready for when my wife gets off work this Sunday.

It's her first time to California and will be only my second.  My last time was back in 2001 (if I remember correctly) and there is very little that I remember.  I had gone out for an animation convention in hopes of securing a job as an animator.  The trip, though fun, really was a smack in the face when it came to learning about the profession I had chosen to follow.  Even though a couple interviews had occurred during that week nothing ever came of them and my life continued on.

Fast forward almost 17 years and I'm ready to go see it all again.  The only things remaining from the last trip are a single Disney California Adventure postcard and a Disneyland tee shirt.  I have no photos....no nothing.  So this time, I'm going to make sure that I get a whole lot of everything.  Very excited.  This will probably be my last post until I return mid-September.

Very excited.

#art #printmaking #linocut #lino #linoprint #reductionlinocut #LaRoseShop #Greensburg #PA #carving #process #vacation #california #hereicome

La Rose Shop - Back at it again!

 

Pictures of the block and printed image.

Wound up having to take today off unexpectedly due to some car issues for my wife.  It took most of the morning to get the car towed and fixed and when I finally got home I decided that I was going to do something with this piece.

I mixed up a yellow ochre like color with some Hansa Yellow and Sepia and printed a new brick color for this piece.  The bricks are a light tan color, but since this piece isn't working out as expected and there is very little to no contrast I've decided to press on with some vibrant colors.

I like the look of the layout for this piece, but unfortunately the neon tubes are so small that they are actually difficult to discern again the light yellow background.  Hoping that with some additional colors this piece will start to come together.

#art #printmaking #linocut #lino #linoprint #reductionlinocut #printingprocess #yellowochre #LaRoseShop #Greensburg #PA #neon #retroroadside #vintageneon #oldroadsigns

Zion - New Mini Print - 3x3"

A while back I posted a photo (see below) of a mini print that I had started.  Due to life and the general business that it entails, I never had the chance to start it.

After yesterdays issues with printing the light orange I decided that I really wanted to get right back on the linocut horse and get printing.  I had everything ready for this print so the picture above is the first printed layer.  You can the Sharpie marker showing in the yellow as it transferred with the ink and will continue to do so for the first couple layers.  This print is set to be an edition of 10, but any errors may change that...so hopefully the errors will be minimal as they were with the other mini prints I did.

I should be able to hopefully move quickly through this print and have updates at least once a week while working with it.

(Original picture from previous post of mini block)

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #linoprint #lino #Zion #miniprint #firstlayer #printingprocess

It's been almost 3 weeks!

B - 8x8 Reduction Linocut - Complete!

It's been quite a while since I've had a chance to actually do some work.  First on my list was to finish the "B" neon that I've been working on.  I'm happy with the final product, but wish I had done a few things differently.

The only issue that I really have with the print is that the yellows that are printed have less contrast than even shown in this photo.  I feel I've taken some big steps in making the hardware for the neon look more realistic.

As good as the B print went, I then started printing the next color on the Utah landscape piece that I've been working on....things did not go as planned.

This is a detail shot of the newly printed light orange.  As you can see it did not adhere well to the print at all.  I'm really unsure as to what I'm going to do next with this piece now.  Next step may be to actually print white over the green and then try another version of light orange.

I always have issues with the yellow that I use and perhaps now it's time to actually move on from it.  It's generally very thick and when I use tack reducer to loosen it up it almost never works for me.  If you look closely down in the detail areas at the bottom you can also see where it filled in the carved areas and ruined this particular print.

I'm going to keep at this piece, but my happiness with it is not where it should be.

To add to my issues, my brayer that I use most has also acquired an issue.

Generally the brayer is not shiny, but when I grabbed it off the shelf today I discovered that the surface of the roller looked odd.  Parts of it were shiny and slightly tacky.  When I started to try and wipe it with a paper towel I found that it started to slightly pull it apart.  I did a full cleaning with vegetable oil, dawn dish detergent and simple green and managed to clean it all off, but after using it and cleaning it after printing...I discovered that the issue was back.....

Guess I have some looking to do for possibly a new brayer.

I have torn down some paper for a new 3x3 print and hope to start that sometime next week.

#art #printmaking #linocut #lino #linoprint #reductionlinocut #B #neon #brayer #printingprocesses #printingproblems #inkissues

Neon B is almost finished!

The other day I had some extra time and really wanted to get moving along with the neon B.  The color was easy enough to mix...since it came straight outta the tube.

It's unfortunate that Daniel Smith stopped manufacturing relief inks.  This red is spectacular and better than a lot of reds that I've used.  Hopefully once I run out of my ink supply of this particular red I will have found another one to take it's place.

The block for the B has been carved and is ready for the next printing.  All that now remains is the shadow red and then this piece will be finished.

Beyond this piece, I've been working at coming up with a color that will advance the progress of the La Rose Shop.  I'm not overly fond as to the direction that that particular piece is going.  I've really let it sit for a good while and usually once a week I pull it out and look it over.  I think I've come up with an appropriate color to continue with, but I'm still going to let it sit as I continue to mull over what's going to happen with it.

I've been doing the same with the Green Street piece.  I feel that I made a color mistake early and I'm not really sure about how I feel about it.  The print to this point doesn't look terrible, I'm just not fond of the colors.  Guess when the time comes I'll restart work on it....still have some thinking to do though.

#art #printmaking #linocut #lino #linoprint #reductionlinocut #printingprocess #fineartprint #originalart #B #neon #red #danielsmith #shadowred #almostdone

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