Two completed pieces and a Flo.

Coca-Cola Bottlecap - 3x3" reduction linocut -COMPLETE!!

I finally completed the Coca-Cola bottlecap this past week.  I'm very happy with how it turned out.  For something that started out as a small test piece for a possible larger piece, I'm pleased that I decided to go this route.

The only disappointment that I have with it is after carving the background away, I needed to leave some areas uncarved so that the block fit into the registration jig properly.  Those uncarved areas are seen at the top corners and the bottom right (slightly) - they became embossed into the papers surface as I continued printing.

 

Flo's - 12x16" reduction linocut

Flo's is still continuing to impress me.  The registration has been exact on every single piece.  I've never experienced this success yet and I'm down to 3 colors left and this piece will be complete.

The left image shows the block as I'm just starting to ink it up.  I have to roll multiple, thin layers of ink across the surface and slowly build up the ink.  I usually spend about 10 minutes just slowly inking the block and trying to make sure that there is an even coating of ink before I print.  After the block has been inked and printed for the first time it becomes much easier to ink.

Flamingo - 8x6" reduction linocut - COMPLETE!

I've struggled to get a good picture of this piece.  It seems to drive the camera on my phone as well as my traditional camera crazy and the quality is almost always poor for this piece.  Both cameras work great for every other piece I've done or am working on, but for some reason they both struggle to take a decent picture of the Flamingo.

I did decide to print one last color onto the Flamingo.  If you look along some of the edges you'll notice a much darker, bold line.  It does not completely outline the Flamingo, but instead just where the shadow fell.  I do like how this piece finally turned out and I'm much happier with the additional dark areas.  I believe that I've now completed 4-5 pieces so far this year...which is probably the most I've ever completed at this point.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #reductionprint #neon #bottlecap #coke #cocacola #flamingo #lasvegas #lightandshadow #flos #cars #carsland #disney

Slow progress, but carvings galore -

Hi everyone!!  I've been making slow, but steady progress on multiple pieces and haven't actually done any printing in the past 2 weeks.  I've been spending a lot of time with the Ice Cream linocut that I restarted.  I had planned on printing one day and instead spent that time carving instead.

Here we go though.... 

Ice Cream - 20x16"

I've been working fairly slowly on the new Ice Cream piece and carefully carving away the areas within the text of Ice Cream.  I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but since I created my own shadows there is a lot of confusion as to what is what when looking at the piece.  There is the white (paper) area that I'm trying to carve, but also the cast shadow, the pinkish/red outline of the lettering and the cast shadow across it. 

Lots of lines and possible areas for mistakes so I keep the reference photo on my desktop and try to pay close attention to the where the pinkish/red and white meet and then figure out on the lino where the cast shadows are in relation to what I'm looking at.  I'm getting there though.

Flo's - 12x16"

I just recently finished carving this piece.  It is now ready for the next color, but it's going to probably wait until after the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.  Most of the time I usually have available during the night or week has been mostly taken up by overtime at my job.  This piece will be one of the first pieces I plan on printing once I get my chance.

 

Flamingo - 8x6"

It has taken me a couple weeks to make a decision on this piece.  Every couple days I've looked at the print and pondered what to do about adding another color.

I made up my decision this past Thursday and carved the block and now I'm ready for one more color.  This piece will also be one of the first blocks I attempt to print.  I have an upcoming deadline for an exhibition and I think that I would like to submit this piece to that show.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #flamingo #flos #icecream #neon #lightandshadow #printingprocess

Flamingo's, Coke, Flo's, Ice Cream and Starting Over.

 

Flamingo - 8x6" - 5(?) color reduction linocut - Complete(?)

This past week I managed to print the shadow red/pink color for the Flamingo.  I definitely like how the piece has turned out so far and was so happy to be done with it....problem is....it doesn't quite feel done to me.

A small part of me wants to add a 6th color to the piece.  It would be another shadow red that would be in only a couple small parts.  I'm still giving this piece some time.  I look at it every couple days and I'm still pretty conflicted as to whether it's done or not.  Guess time will tell.

Flamingo before the 5th color was printed and showing a color swatch of the mixed shadow color.

Ice Cream - 20x16" - 13 color reduction linocut

So............the piece that I've been really excited for.....I don't like.

I've invested around 8 hours into this piece so far and that's only with two printed layers.  I should've printed the yellows first, but instead wanted to print the shadow areas of the neon tubing.  The grey, even though it's very light, comes right through the highly transparent yellow causing it to turn a uncomfortable yellow-green.  I also discovered areas that should've been carved initially...sigh.

Even though I do not like this piece, I am still going to proceed with it and see how it turns out.  I'm also re-starting the piece as well.  Luckily, I kept the drawing and was able to easily transfer the drawing onto a new piece of linoleum.

 

Ice Cream - Starting Over

The second photo hear shows the tracing with Sharpie marker and even though the pic is two days old, I've managed to almost finish the tracing in marker.  I really like this piece and want to do it right.  No mistakes this time...if I do make one, this will be a costly piece.

Coca-Cola - 3x3" - 5 color reduction linocut

This piece is turning out very nice.  I do like it and I'm in the process of carving away for the final red shadow.  Once that is printed I will only have a small cast shadow to print along the one bottom edge.  Not too much to update on this piece.

Flo's - 12x16" - 9 color reduction linocut

Flo's is moving along nicely as well.  I printed the Turquoise coloring this past week and I'm really liking how it's turning out so far.  Registration has been on the whole way.  I like the colors so far as well.  Next up will be a dark turquoise for the shadow areas in and under the lettering.

After that I believe I'm left with two dark greys and a sky blue.  Very exciting progress on this one.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #updates #reliefprint #icecream #cocacola #coke #flamingo #flos #neon #lightandshadow #startingover

The pink Flamingo

Flamingo - 8x6" - 5 color reduction lioncut

I'm down to only 1 color left for the neon Flamingo.  This piece has worked out better than anticipated.  I altered my registration unit to be more like the one I use for unmounted linoleum and for some reason...it just works.  I actually just realized the day while carving that I was actually down to a single color, that color being a cast shadow on the Flamingo itself.  I'm double checking my carving to make sure that I'm properly carving away the right areas.

Here is a quick picture of the inked block.  I should have the finished piece within a week..or maybe less.

I've also been carving away at the Ice Cream block.  Most of the block was pretty straight forward when it came to carving, but then all of a sudden I found myself confused by what needed carved in the actual swirled part of the sign.  I have it color coordinated and everything...and yet still I ran into many moments of indecision.  I wound up putting the actual image on my computer screen and zoomed in on whatever area I was currently working on.  Very excited to get this moving onto the next step.

On a side note, I've discovered that the ice cream neon sign at Disney's California Adventure has been removed to make way for the new Pixar theme.

Well, this is a pretty small and basic update...nothing to much has happened since the last one, but figured I'd at least share the Flamingo.  I'm also preparing to submit a couple works to some local exhibitions that are coming up.  Still kicking around which pieces are going to be involved and which aren't.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #printingprocess #neon #flamingo #icecream

Everybody loves Ice Cream...right?

Ice Cream - 16x20 - 13/14 color reduction linocut

Edition of: 8 + 1 AP

So I've been slowly working on this Ice Cream print for over a month now.  It's one that was basically created because my wife wanted one....well over a year ago.  This neon sign is courtesy of Disney's California Adventure (Paradise Pier) and was the first major Ice Cream based neon sign that I had seen that really screamed to turn it into a linoleum print.

After coming home and looking at it closer, I realized that there were more colors in the image than I had originally thought.  I had originally figured 8-9 colors, which has become my happy medium for printing and instead discovered 13.  Ouch.  I don't want to skimp on the colors though so that what I'm gonna shoot for and pray to the printmaking Gods for sharp registration.

Like most of my pieces, I start with the light grey which is almost always the shadow on the neon tubing.  The image above is that first printed color.  I'm excited for this piece and I have a lot more confidence in registration than I've had....probably ever.

Flo's - 12x16" - 9 Color reduction linocut

Edition of: 7 + 1 AP

I printed the fourth color to the Cars Land/Cars Flo's V8 Cafe.  The latest color is a light turquoise color.  I had some difficulty mixing this color for some reason....actually....I used too much white which really gave me problems when I went to turn it into the color I wanted.

I'm very happy with the color that I did come up with though.  The next color will be straight turquoise and that will be followed up with a darker version.  I'm about half way through this one and very happy with it so far.

I'm definitely having to take longer to ink the block for these larger pieces.  The first couple of these I pulled did not have a nice even color so I had to reprint them at the end.  I can't apply the ink heavily so these thin layers of ink take considerable time and if I remember correctly, I'm up to about 5-6 minutes worth of inking before I can print the block.

Well I'll have to chat with you all later...I have some things that I have to do today.  Hopefully I can finish carving the Ice Cream block soon so I can print it this coming Saturday.  Have a nice day everyone and I'll update you later.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #neon #printingprocess #icecream #flos #disney #pixar #disneyland #californiaadventure

Do Flamingos drink Coke? - updates

 

Flamingo - 8x6" - 7 color reduction

So since my last post, I've actually managed to print 2 colors for the neon Flamingo.  I printed a grey for the shadows cast by parts of the Flamingo.  I don't appear to have any photos on my computer of that stage (they are probably still on my phone) so I'm going to just continue with the 3rd color.

The third color was a light pink which is mostly a background color.  I printed two pieces before deciding that I wasn't that crazy with how the color was working out.  The pink I had mixed just seemed way too light so I added some additional red into it and made a much nicer value.

This is both colors set side by side.  I printed the rest of the edition and then once I finished I went back and reprinted the first two pieces that were with the lighter color.  I like how this piece is turning out so far.  The colors are so far pretty good and I have already mixed up the next pink...it's sort of a mid-pink...darker than the image on the right, but not to dark.  It's hard to explain, so I guess we'll just have to wait until the next update.  I was hoping to print it today, but it's still very tacky to the touch so hopefully next week.

Flo's  - 12x16 - 9 color reduction linocut

Flo's is moving along pretty well.  I've printed the two pinkish layers in that upper left corner of the block.  That area is a "V8" logo that is at the center of the structure.  Both pinks printed very rapidly since it was such a small area.

I needed to find the second pink color and needed it to pop against the initial light pink.  In the past, I've created a second color only to find that it didn't really contrast well with the initial piece.  I'm very happy with the color and I'm really excited about the next color...problem is...the ink is still tacky and now I must wait.

 

Coca-Cola - 3x3" - 5 color reduction linocut

I've made pretty good progress on the Coca-Cola since it's last update.  I printed the initial light grey which doubles for the background color as well as the shadowed area of the logo on the bottle cap.  I've made this an edition of 20 so far.  I don't usually make an edition of this size as I find it...unexciting...to print the same image over and over and over.  I like to print a couple of one image and then move onto another piece.  At 3x3" though, I figured it would create a good number of prints that I could submit to various shows all at once.

 

Just today I printed the second color for the bottle cap.  Just a straight red which is also the red highlight of the bottle cap.  All other reds used will now be shadow colors.  I'm very happy so far with the registration as well.  It doesn't look very exciting at the moment, but I'm hoping with the next red it'll really create some depth to the image.

I've also torn the paper for the 16x20" Ice Cream print that my wife has been wanting.  I'm excited to get it started and afraid at the same time.  There are quite a few colors to this piece and I just have this fear of messing it up somewhere along the line.  Hopefully I won't and I'll be thrilled with it, but of course for right now...it's a lot of what ifs.

Have some errands to run so I'll update everyone hopefully next week.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #flamingo #neon #Flos #Disney #LasVegas #lightandshadow #CocaCola #bottlecap #red #pink #printingprocess

Pixar and soda (pop) based inspirations

 

Flo's - 12x16" - 9 Color Reduction Linocut

I've begun working on a couple of the newer pieces that i have been planning.  First up is "Flo's", it is based on a location in the Disney/Pixar film Cars.

Disney has always been a major inspiration for myself.  During high school the only thing that I wanted to do was become a Disney animator.  I did pursue that dream and attended college for animation.  Though the dream of animating for Disney never came true, I did get to work freelance in animation for a small studio located just outside of Pittsburgh, PA and I did get to see my work on a big screen (okay, so it was a scoreboard at PNC Park (home to the Pirates), but it was still a big screen).

During our last anniversary trip, my wife and I traveled to California and spent the first couple days at both Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.  If you have not had the chance to visit California Adventure, I do recommend giving a shot at some point.  Cars Land is a section of the park completely devoted to the movie Cars and is practically a perfect recreation of Radiator Springs from the movie....neon and all.  Both my wife and I became quite enamored with the place that we visited 3 times over our last 2 days at Disney.

My piece, "Flo's", is based on a photo that I took of part of the signage for the fictional gas station.

(Inked block - Color #1 - Light Grey)

 

(Left: Color Proof - Right: Printed Light Grey Layer)

 

Coca-Cola - 3x3" - 5 Color Reduction Linocut

I've also started another mini print of a Mexican Coca Cola bottlecap.  Coca-Cola recently released Georgia Peach and California Raspberry flavored glass bottled Cokes.  After trying them both I wound up sitting on the couch with my wife for a while.  When I went to throw the bottles and caps away, I noticed that the light from the lamp created all types of highlights and shadows across the bottle cap.  Needless to say...it stopped me and though the original intention was to do the Georgia Peach cap, I decided instead on a traditional Mexican Coke cap.

I would like to do a larger scale piece, but really want to do a test piece first so I've chosen to do a mini-print of it first.  Depending on the outcome of this piece may lead to larger 8x8 or 10x10" pieces.

(Paper "white" areas carved away and prepared for printing of first color)

Lastly....

YMCA - 4x12" - 5 Color Reduction Linocut

This is a piece that I've fiddled with since I first started doing linocut.  It's based off of a location on Pittsburgh's North Side.  I've struggled doing this piece ever since and I don't understand why...it's a simple 5 color piece.  The "M" was recently the subject of one of my mini-prints.  This piece isn't overly large and part of me would really like to do it as a large scale piece...say 9x20" or 10x22".  Since I have the Flo's and another 16x20 piece currently in my pipeline, I'll hold off for the time being and just complete this smaller version.

That's all for this update.  I should have some new printed pieces by the end of today and tomorrow.

#art #printmaking #linocut #reductionlinocut #printingprocesses #lightandshadow #neon #bottlecap #disney #pixar #animation #flos #carsland #californiaadventure #ymca #cocacola #coke