New Reduction Lino ideas

New project ideas.  Went out yesterday morning in search of fun signs around Pittsburgh.  I had decided one week that I'd be double checking the sign on Heinz Field and took a bunch of photos.  I also wound up in Oakmont, PA and took some pics of the Oaks Theater.

Both images have been slightly altered and printed off my printer in 8x10.  Both lino blocks that I'll be working with will be that size also.

Cozy Cone Motel Reduction update

I finished carving out the background for the Cozy Cone Motel sign this morning.  Since this area is carved I will no longer be able to print that area ever again.  I also started carving away the "No Vacany"  part of the sign as well.  It's going to require much more attention as it appears that I missed some lines while tracing. 

Cozy Cone Reduction Lino update

Eesh.  3 hours got me this.  The small detail areas between the color edges of the letters and the shadow are taking significantly more time than anticipated.  Still fun though and I oddly thoroughly enjoy this process.

I'll admit to not being sure how this piece is going to turn out in the end... I glued the lino to the block and I'm not totally sure that the way I did it is the best way.  When printing, if the block is underinked I can see areas where the glue is the thickest.  Still learning I suppose.

Cozy Cone Motel Work In Progress

When I work in an area where there are important features or high detail I usually use a small carving tip and carve an outline around the areas that I don't want to carve into...yet.

Here are two detail shots of the "Cozy Cone" neon letters in the sign.  The top was taken about an hour before the lower one.  I still have considerable carving to do.  To finish the rest of this section, it'll probably take another 2 to 3 hours.

"M" Neon Lino Reduction

This is an update on the "Neon M" Linocut Reduction print that I'm working on.  I'm using Akua Inks on a 250gsm printmaking paper.  As the layers have started to build up I find I'm having issues getting the ink to lay down nicely.  The red color of the print is not nearly as vibrant as how the camera is seeing it.  I'm assuming that the printed grey for the neon tubes is finding it's way through and thus taking away the vibrancy.

I'm gonna keep pushing on with it though to see how it finally turns out.  2 colors to go...a dark semi-transparent grey shadow and black.

Cozy Cone Update

Cozy Cone Motel - 18x24 Lino Reduction Print

These are some update pics on my larger scale reduction print.  This time I'm actually attempting to cheat my way through the process by saving on some ink and only inking the area that needs that specific color.  For my last print, I inked the entire plate with color and quickly ran out which didn't allow me to make more than six (and I so wanted more than 6).  This time around I've printed 8 which is a number that I like much more.

Lily Pad Finished Print(s)

Lily Pad Final Print - 4x6 on 8x10 paper

Here are the final color prints for the Lily Pad print.  The final color was a very dark green.  It was a mix of green, blue and red which got me the general color I was looking for and then I started adding small amounts of black until I reached a color that I was happy with.

The ink was a little....wet.  I may have used a little too much Extender in it and it seemed to want to creep down into the cracks which made for some lines that were larger than they were supposed to be.

Overall pretty happy with them...except the blue flower one.  Way too light.  Not too bad for a test block though.  I'll probably be more willing to attempt a larger block in the near future.