Snowflakes Are Dancing!

Printing!  Test prints went well so I moved onto printing on Arches 88.

 I like the color.  8-]  Half blue, half white...with a dash of red.

This one is good and solid:

But I really like the wood texture that comes thru on this one:

Either would make a good Schuyler House xmas card.  I'll think about it a bit while they dry.

Note to self:  Change signature line to "from your friends at Schuyler House."

Color Swatches

Made some color test swatches.

Pretty sure I'll go with blue and white with just a hint of red (around the middle).  It dulls up the blue and white a tad.  Too much red moves into purple tho.  Too far.

Snowflakes Have Danced

Done carving, tho I know full well once I ink it up and it swells a bit, I'll have some areas to recarve.  But at this point it's done.  8-]

Now for a test print.

Snowflakes Still Dancing

Back to carving after a short hiatus to edit a semi-annual poetry collection.  Snowflakes are almost there.  Then I can do a test print.

A faux print (bw mirrored image of the block) looks pretty good:

It's funny.  I get so used to looking at the block while I'm carving that the actual image starts to look strange.  But I'll adjust.  ;- ]

Carving is a good way to dispel nervous energy today, election day.  Off to cast my ballot shortly.

Snowflakes are Carving

Let the carving begin.  A lotta-little lines.  The trick will be to remember the snowflakes and swirl lines are white on blue in the top and blue on white in the bottom!

Chip, chip, chip.  Repeat.

~*~

Another 45 min.  Time to stretch.

~*~

Another carving session.  Stretching.  Think I'll ice the knot at the base of my neck.

*~*

Another session.

And another.  

~*~

More carving.  Listening to Christmas music on Pandora to get in the mood.  ;- ]

Detail.

~*~

Chip-chip-chipping along.

Faux print -- b&w and mirror image of the block to see what it'll look like.  Not bad.

~*~

Another carving session.

Snowflakes

Snowflakes are starting to dance.

This is the portion that will show up on the card:

Need to tweak those swirly lines a bit.

Carving.  Finally!

Cartoon Transfer

Transferring the cartoon now.  Went with the waxy transfer computer paper.  Used a wooden spoon.

Can barely see the image through the transfer paper, but it looks like the image on the right.  

It's a pale image, but it's enough to work with.

I go over the lines in pencil.

Tedious, but necessary.  The image on the right helps with connecting missing lines.

Cartoons

I don't know what I think about transfer paper you run through the printer.  I've used it to good effect, but I keep falling back on my tried and true chalk-the-back and trace the cartoon method.

If I use the tracing paper, then I print out the cartoon in obverse:

And if I use the chalk method, then I print out the cartoon in reverse:

I don't have any strong feelings either way, I just have to make an executive decision.  You'd be surprised how hard that is.  ;- j

But decide I shall, and then I'll begin carving.  

~*~

Ok, so there's another reason a favor the chalk technique.  If I'm doing multiple blocks (and I'm still dithering about that too), I want to use the same cartoon, not a different print out.  I'm sure it's not really a problem, but I'm iffy on it.

The block is sanded and stained and drying in the garage.

~*~

Ok, there's a reason for using the transfer paper -- the image is too detailed.  If I decide to use 2 blocks I'll need exactitude.  Besides I stained the block and that doesn't take to chalk as well as when I blacken the board (used to use india ink and gesso, but I'm out of the habit).  So with the lighter wood the transfer may work better.  At any rate I've decided, so that's that.

But remember, print the cartoon the right way!!  I hate it when I get that wrong.  ;-*

Now I just have to stain the other side of the board for that mythical second block.

Motifs

Got the cartoon down to a set of motifs.

I can play with coloring the background now, as well as the snowflakes.  The chop is just a placeholder for whatever I'll be carving, and probably in the same colorway as the rest of the card.

Bill did his math magic on the card size and what size to carve the image on the block (i.e., how much margin to leave so I can crop it to fit).  Now all I have to decide is whether I want to carve an 8x10 or a 9x12 block.  Tiny detail seems to call for a larger block.

~*~

Measuring now.  Bill worked up the measurements for me,

Print 4.61 x 7.17  

Bleed (full image) 4.72 x 7.28

On the 8 x 10, 10 inches high, 6.5 inches wide

On the 9 x 12, 12 inches high, 7 3/4 inches wide

but I really have to print out a cartoon and hold it up to the block to see what I think.  Still dithering between blocks, but I'm leaning toward the larger one.  That castle motif is awfully small.

Snowflakes - The Choosing

Time to choose my snowflakes.  I've printed out pages of snowflakes to choose from.  It comes down to feathery ones and geometric ones, probably a mix of both.

Time to nail down the cartoon and start carving.  Christmas isn't going to wait.

Block Prep

Ok, I've got two mismatched blocks, but I can use either one and carve on the back (but it really is time to order more blocks from  http://www.imcclains.com/ ).  

So, do I use the 9"x12" or the 8"x10" block?  They're both 3/8" thick, so there's no problem carivng on both sides.

I guess it depends on how tiny I want to carve my snowflakes.  ;- j

Time to work up the cartoon and see.

Snowflakes and castle sans trees.

And of course I have to pick my snowflakes.

I love snowflakes!  (At a distance.)  ;- >

~*~

Playing with motif placement in PageMaker.  If I want to print out a cartoon and transfer it to the blocks, I have to translate an 9"x12" image to fit an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper.

Where the outside rectangle is the block and the inside rectangle is the sheet of paper.

Of course I need to leave room for my chop (which I might actually carve separately this time).

~*~

Math is my weakest suit, so I'm trying to juggle three sizes:  block, paper, actual card size (5.5"x8.25").

Here's what my cobbled cartoon looks like scaled down to the card size:

Now I can pull this off if the snow fades out to white on the bottom.  This particular image assumes a separate chop, as the top and bottom of the board are represented by the pale gray lines.

I have to keep in mind the wind-marks I want to include.  They can't go below the top or bottom of the board.

Oh well, I can always resort to letting my hubby the math wiz work it out for me.  ;- j  Why else did I marry him?

I haven't done it before, but the title can actually be added when the card is created in vistaprint.

Snowflake Mosh Pit

It's at the ugly stage at the moment.  Screenshots of gobbledy-gook.

Playing with size and placement of elements.  Pulled the castle from Castle Schuyler House:

But I'm liking the composition more or less from Mid-Winter Night:

But with the castle farther into the background.  Not sure of the type of tree in the foreground either.

Something akin to this:

Or maybe this, without the trees?

It's a little more elemental this way.

Tay Cards

Ordered personalized cards of Tay and the Night Visitor for a friend of a friend.  Unlike all the other xmas cards I've done for Schuyler House, this one was not generated with Vistaprint, and it turned out to be surprisingly difficult to change the text inside.

We're back with Vistaprint and happy with it.  I may move the Tay card over to Vistaprint eventually.

In the meantime, back to work on this year's xmas card.  It won't design and carve itself!

Art Show Aftermath

Sold a woodcut and an intaglio etching at the Garden Party Art Show yesterday.

Tay and the Night Visitor

Cosmic Bobcat (inked in a rainbow roll)

I also picked up a commission for a set of personalized xmas cards of the Tay card.  That surprised me.  I displayed all 5 Schuyler House xmas woocuts with their respective xmas cards, and someone asked if I could make him a set of cards with his name inside.  Why not?  8-]

So I'll start researching that project.  I'm used to ordering them in volume -- 500 to 1000 cards for the business.  So I'll have to see if they'll do an order of 50 to 100 cards (I'm sure they will) and how much that costs for processing.

If it works out, I may offer a line of blank or personaled xmas cards for other people besides Schuyler House.  ;- ]

Met a friend of one of the other artists who was taken with my woodcuts and took some pics to show a friend at work.  Ran into her again at dinner (she works at the restaurant the artists frequent), and she said nice things about my work.  Nice to be appreciated.  Maybe a future sale.  ;- j