Tiger & Sloth

Made In the Shade 4"x6"

First prints. Very uneven. Having trouble with either the ink or the pressure on the press. Probably both. Some days just don't go smoothly. But I've made a start. It'll get there.

~*~

I think the runners along the sides of the press bed (long thin pieces of plywood to lift the roller to the height of the block) are compressing. They make these occasional cracking noises (better them than the block!). I may need to replace them or augment them somehow.

Or maybe there's a difference in the height of the current block from previous ones. They don't look any different, but maybe it's slight. At any rate, I have to work on that some before I print again. The last block I printed wasn't so uneven.

Tiger & Sloth test print

Here's the test print. Not too bad. Maybe a couple lines need a little more definition.

I showed it to Kitty and Kurt. They liked it. Kitty wants 50 prints! Hoo-boy. I'd better get busy. (She actually needs 150, but she's going to print up some copies on Lulu to hand out to the rest of her court.) That's a big court!

Tiger & Sloth, continued

The block is pretty much done. I'll see what needs a little tweaking after I make a test print. In the meantime, I made a mirrored b&w scan of the block (what I call a faux print) to see what it might look like.





I haven't shown it to Kitty or Kurt yet. It's for a series of prints they can hand out to their court as favors when they step down from the Throne at Coronation in June. Or rather, when Sven and Kolfinna step down. ;-j

I still need a title for the piece. Something to reflect their taking a much-deserved rest after their second reign. Made in the Shade?

Tiger & Sloth

Still some detail work to do. But it's coming along nicely. Better stop now. I know how compulsive this can be and my shoulders won't thank me if I continue.

~*~


a bit of tiger striping

Nice to see I still know how to carve a block. ;-> I'm working in spurts so I don't wrack my shoulders.
~*~





computer cobbled image with Kitty's tiger and Kurt's sloth

Finally have my hands on a block again. Haven't been working on anything since Dec. That drat ulcer -- or rather the reglan I was taking for the ulcer. It messed with my other meds. But things seem to be back to normal -- or what passes for normal. ;-j And I'm back to working again.

2008 Xmas Card Woodcut

Ta-da! Here it is. The 2008 xmas card. This is a scan of the card itself, which we had printed up of Vista Print. I like the blue it came out.

It's pretty much what I envisioned it to be, a wintery scene with the Schuyler House castle in the background. I call it The Horse Knows the Way.

Horse Knows the Way -- Print

Horse Knows the Way, thalo blue w/ a dab of red.




Mirror scan of block -- faux print (curious -- comes out darker, but more or less the same woodcut marks as the print).


I'm wondering now. Would the mirror scan of the block copy better for the xmas cards than the actual print? But I do want it in blue, not black. Hmm. Also the print is a little lighter (and has the natural uneveness of a print -- well, my print anyway). ;-j

This is really new for me, so much white space on a block. I like it, but it was hard to make myself do it (not to mention using tiny tools to do it with). ;-j

Sleigh Block -- Nearly There

The block so far


Mirror image faux print

Sleigh -- Scan Block

Back to work on the sleigh after the turkey day holiday. It'll be there soon, maybe this week. Tempus is fugiting.

Sleighing Away

I'm not liking the struts on the sleigh. I may remove the fore set on the far side. Have to think about it.

~*~

Thanx for the comments, guys. You convinced me. I won't touch the struts...yet. ;-> It also helped to see it in a mirror, the way it's supposed to look. So the struts stay for now. ;-j

Sleigh Block

Going pretty fast, especially the white parts. Snowflakes are a tad tedious 'cuz the board has to be turned and it's long for that. But it's all going well.

Sleigh Block - WIP

This is a large block for a Christmas Card, I know. ;-j It's about 8"x12", but it will scale down to the size of card we're using at Vista Print. This is an online outfit we used last year to make our cards (but I had the dimensions wrong and had to cobble the image at the last minute). So this time I've made the image to fit. I hope!

I'll print up the block as well, probably for 11"x14" matting.


wip


greyscale

I don't know how the snowflakes will come out, but I like the fuzzy look of them so far. This is a first for me, putting so much white space in a block. I want to carve more lines on the snowy hill, but I'm restraining myself.


~*~







clip(clop)ing right along. ;-]




One thing you can say about all that white -- it goes fast!

Xmas '08

Schuyler House Xmas Card '08
a la Courier & Ives theme, with a medieval flare
started carving; also googling snow and horses and such for better subjects

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.

Catfish Test Prints

Teally-blue made up of thalo blue, thalo green, white and base.



A failed print, but it gives me an idea for another colorway: ocre on grey.




An ocre test print.





And another one.

Ok, I Like This One

I'll probably change something while I'm carving it, but I like this combination. Balance black and white, not too fiddly, and the head is clear.

Bill asked me last night, "How are you doing these?" ;-> Paint Shop Pro of course. ;-j. The catfish on the block is currently solid black and I'm just using the erase feature to "draw" the white areas. Just like a monoprint. ;-]





Carving away. ;-]




Looking like this.





And this. About time to see how it prints.

Faux Print Catfish Patterns

Sylvester the catfish.



A couple of pattern ideas for my catfish.

I think that's too busy.



This one is just a little ruffly.

Too much white? I like the black head.

A darker tail and fin to match the head.

Faux Catfish

Paleo-Catfish faux print (grey scale mirror scan of block)

Now I need to google a few cat patterns and fish patterns and see how I'll trick out my catfish.

paleo-catfish wip

I could have stained the block a little darker, but it's coming along nicely.






It's really going quickly. Have to stop often and stretch.







Pretty much done except for the kitty. I'll work on it tomorrow.

Paleo-Catfish

I'm not sure which way it's supposed to go yet, but I'm leaning toward the top one. I drew the bottom one. I used the body from my dolphin block and a cat head. I still need to marry the two better. I like the mouse. Maybe he's a real mouse that wanders into the cave and is looking at the catfish.

Don't know the size yet either. I have 4"x6" and 6"x8" blocks. Or I could do something else. It was just time to work on a new paleo-critter.

I enlarged the body a bit. Still fiddling with it.

And a little bigger. The head is cartoonishly large. I'm trying to find a happy medium between kewt and balanced.

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.