29 May 2006

Memorial Day Print

Yesterday the choir I sing with performed the song In Flanders Field, which commemorates a WWI burial ground in Belgium, and the idea for this print popped into my mind. I had a great time making this, partly because it only took about 3 hours. (I'm still struggling with time issues.) My process was a little different for this print, so I want to describe it briefly. First I decided on the size of the print and the paper. I cut some paper down to size and left it dry. Then I cut the image area and kento on two blocks. The first block I left alone, with no carving, so I could use it like a plate for monoprinting. Then I drew the headstones on the second block and quickly carved them. I carved the bottoms lightly so it would look almost like grass at the base of each stone. Then I took a print from that block and transferred the same image with carbon paper to the uncarved block so I could see where the stones would be on the final. I mixed up a few colors and got some brushes ready for printing. I sprayed water on the uncarved block and applied 3 colors using various brushes. Then I took an impression on dry paper. Here's how it looked: 

Immediately after taking that impression, I prepared the other block with black ink and took the second impression. That was the process for each of the 10 prints. I cleaned off the "monoprint" block every other print so the colors wouldn't mix too much on the block and get muddy.

24 May 2006

A Wave

I found some time this week to start on my little "Tai Chi" prints (see May 9 entry), tentatively titled "Attitudes." I can't seem to make anything without giving it a title. Sometimes the title even comes first. Maybe it's because I majored in English literature as an undergrad, or maybe it's just from years of illustrating magazine headlines. Anyway, this wave pattern is based on a section of marbled paper I found.

09 May 2006

One Thing Leads to Another

I found these Tai Chi photos one day last week while I was looking online for something entirely else and they captured my fancy. I've begun to imagine these as characters in various settings and I hope to do a few prints that would further develop the style of image I worked with in the Let Go print. I have a lot of illustration work on my desk right now, though, so it will probably be a week or two before I can get started on any new prints.