28 March 2006

Overprinting The Lettering

The lettering is printed (click to enlarge)! It took a few attempts before I got the color the way it looked in my head, but I'm pleased with this outcome. As I suspected, the wood grain underneath doesn't show very much. Oh well, eventually I'll learn when and where to use it. Another thing I'm experimenting with is edition size. I feel like I need a run of at least 10 sheets to get the blocks warmed up well. Up until now I've been doing about 20 to 24 sheets of paper for each print, but this has caused me to focus a lot on "production," which I don't like. So I'm working with a small edition of 12 for this print, which is helping me relax and take my time. My lack of pre-planning has created a new conundrum, though, which is that there's a design element I want to be white. White should be created by leaving the paper its natural color, but it's too late for that, so I need to find a white water-based pigment that's opaque enough to overprint as white. I'm going out to look at the art store. Maybe gouache will work, or even tempera paint. (The Saito prints I saw at Smith College appeared to include some tempera paint.)

6 comments:

Cin said...

wow Annie, your re-wording is such a powerful take on that familiar prayer, quite an impact coupled with the gouged out rough lettering, wow.

Hugo Sleestak said...

Annie,

The wording truly does "make" the print. If someone has ever struggled through a "dark night of the soul," the words do tend to come out repetitive and broken as the mind works through the situation. The colours are understated and true to the rest. Thanks so much for showing this to us.

Anonymous said...

Wow, this really was successful. Everything that you had said you wanted in this print, it seems to have.
I have tried using white gouache to lighten an area without much success. I did use it thinned with water and paste however...if you find a good solution for lightening a dark area, I'll be very interested!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you made a comment on the twelve step prayer. It's like drinking poison for the U.S. to have an organization so widespread and powerful as Alcoholics Anonymous, which has so much secrecy attached to it. I think it's what they call the Secret Government. They should teach some of the basics of the 12-step groups in comparative religion classes so that when there is a literary reference, people will know what it refers to. People who read the bible used to get good grades because there were so many biblical references in literature. Now you almost have to have been a drunk or a drug addict in order to understand those references in popular literature, so it gives the advantage to the former drinkers and drug users. Strange world, huh? They sure made a mess out of MY life.

Jean Womack

Anonymous said...

Those AA people basically ran men into and out of my house for 30 years without ever trying to get me to stop drinking. They called it going "out." They wanted me to keep drinking. What a racket.

I hope you had better luck than I did, maybe quit drinking while you were young enough to fight them off while they tried to force open your mouth so they could pour the alcohol and drugs into you.

Jean Womack

Annie B said...

Jean, I'm sorry. It sounds like you had some terrible experiences with AA. I make no secret of the fact that I quit drinking 19 years ago. I found AA people to be warm, wise, and welcoming. I agree with you that AA is very powerful, but to my eyes it's powerful in a good way -- a powerful democracy that has saved many lives.
P.S. I like your racetrack drawings!