27 March 2011

Like a Pendleton Blanket

So I decided I wanted the background of this American rivers print to look western, maybe vaguely like a Pendleton blanket. I chose some almost-garish earth tones (Pendleton uses some pretty wild colors) and used a series of masks and stencils that I cut from acetate. Here's a closeup of the first mask held in place with some artist's tape.

Stencil1

In this case, I pulled back the acetate, inked the block with orange, pulled the masks back onto the block, laid down the paper and printed.

Orange

I did this with two more colors, a green and then a light blue that created a darker green.

Green
Blue

These photos were taken at night, so they aren't very good, but you get the idea. Printing a woodblock with stencils and masks gives you a funky edge -- blotchy if you ink and then mask, and feathery if you ink through a stencil. But it's one way to work from a single block without cutting into it.

Next I'll be carving some words.

5 comments:

Kim Rosen said...

Interesting process Annie. Looks great!

Rick Finn said...

It's nice to see your photos of this process. I experimented a bit with stencils recently and had some funky edges as well.

Ellen Shipley said...

I like the iconic Pendleton blanket. Great background. The stencils are a good idea.

Unknown said...

Annie...love your stuff, and I have a quick question: I teach in a private school in Seattle and want to do white line prints. Last time I did it, years ago, we did it on clear pine but primed the surface first with something...glycerine?? methyl cellulose?? Do you prime your block first?
Hope you can help.
I am originally a long time Vermonter and love the Cape. Will be "home" this summer, maybe on the cape.
Donna Romero
dromero@seattleacademy.org

Annie B said...

Hi Donna,
I don't prime my blocks, so I'm not sure what you'd use for white line printing. I've heard of priming blocks with shellac, also with tung oil, but I think that's mostly for making cleanup easier when using oil based inks. Sorry I can't help more. You could try searching BarenForum.org for info...