Baa-Baa Woodblock

This is a print in burnt sienna with green and purple tapped in with small stencil brushes. Practicing the technique for moku hanga. Brushes lose hairs more than good brushes would, but I'm getting a feel for brushing on color instead of rolling it on (except for the brown).




Here's a question: This is a ghost print from cleaning the block. It's more the lightness I'm looking for. So what am I doing wrong? Do I need to add more transparent medium to the inks? I haven't yet tried a paste medium. I've been using Daniel Smith water-soluable ink with some transparent medium and a few drops of water. I've been using a brayer, so it has to be tacky enough to roll. No doubt I can let it get runnier if I use a brush. Is there a happy medium or is it one or the other?

~*~



This is a faux print (mirror image scan of the block) It gives me something to shoot for.

Baa Baa Test Print I Like

Ok, I've got a test print I like. The purple can be a tad lighter and the yellow can be cleaner, but I like the balance with the green in the corners.

Baa-Baa Test Print

It reads purple and yellow, and it should read purple and green. I'm going to try and tone down the yellow by cutting stripes. If that doesn't work, I may cut it out entirely.

It's only a test print, and an actual print will sharper detail, but the lavender at the bottom comes off weak.



Ok, I've added stripes. I'll see if they're wide enough when I print it next.

Haven't printed it yet, but I have an idea. I'll roll up the middle in purple, top to bottom. Then I'll wipe it off the lavender leaves and the sheep. And I can roll up the sides with yellow and wipe it off the laurel leaves. Then add the greens and blacks where necessary, and add it to the corners. That way I can get a bit of background.

Alternately I can roll up @ section in its color -- black for the sheep, green for the bottom (then wipe it off the flowers and add purple). And black can be more of a charcoal.

Anyway it's something to experiment with tomorrow.

Carving Baa-Baa Block

4"x6" shina

Carving.

greyscale w/ high contrast

Baa-Baa Block

the way I'll carve it:

A couple of sketches for my baa-baa device block. I'm thinking of a 4"sq. block, but I could go larger.


A color sketch.


another permutation: this one is in 4"x6" format. Also gets my scallops in, and incorporates my initials into the wool.


a little more tweaking, and in color

Dang. I keep harking back to an older version of my arms -- currently and officially, the "sky" is purpur.

baa-baa 4"x6" carving direction