Pastel on Light Print

It had to sit for a day so I could appreciate it.  Right after I printed I wasn't sure I even had one good print.  Typical.  ;- j  This is a slightly lighter print, but the pastel really makes it pop.

And on a dark print:

Print is too dark for my taste, and is difficult to color with pastel.  Cray-pas can do it (on the brown) but it isn't a smooth-looking.  I can see if more drying will help the ink.

And on a "perfect" print.  Still harder to color.

Interesting experiment.  No wonder Belinda Del Pesco colors pale and ghost prints.  ;- ]  Much easier.

I have a couple more lighter prints I can play with.

Here's another one:

Paper

Broke down some more paper ~ Rives BFK this time.  I'll print on it and see if I like it better than the Arches 88.

I'll be adding pastel to the prints from yesterday (if they're dry yet).

Playing with Pastels

I printed out an image and played with cray pas and pastels.  I like the pastels better ~ finer control.  I'll color up a bw test print and see how that looks.

Pastel on an actual test print.  I had to switch to a brighter red to overpower the black ink.  Ditto gingerbread brown.

Now to print on Arches 88.

Pastel plays into my need for clean lines.  Tapping in color while printing is just too messy for my finicky nature.  ;- j

Bill measured his scanner bed ~ just about the right size (but that's ok, I already accounted for the xmas card being more narrow and long, and I already plan to lose some from the top and bottom).

Coming along.  8-]

First Test Prints

Not liking it at this stage.  Typical but not fun.

Test prints on sketch paper.  Tapping in is proving to be irritating.  I may try something else:  adding color afterwards.  Works for Belinda.  ;- }  I know, I'm not Belinda.

Breaking Down Paper

I've broken down the paper ~ Arches 88 ~ for a smooth finish.  If I decide to play with watercoloring afterward, I'll switch to BFK Rives for texture.

In the meantime, it's black and white ~ and tapped in color.

Slightly narrowed faux print, closer to the xmas card shape

Ready to Test Print

Looks done to me.  Ready for a test print (then any recarving necessary).  Tho I was pretty good at not carving too fine of lines this time.

Mirrored bw faux print.  Need to scan it (this is a photo).

Back to Carving

Back to carving.  Lots of fiddly bits.

Mirrored bw faux print.

Time for a break.  Not much left to do.  I'm really liking this bw version.  More my preferred style.  I'll tap color in (or wipe areas clean and watercolor them later...).  ;- .  Lots of ideas.

Carving the Tree

Working on the greenery today.

Taking a stretch break.  Coming along nicely.

Carving Wood Grain

Working on the table wood grain.  Enhancing what's there.

Flash pic.  Shows more grain.

Sketching in branches.

Flash pic.

Carving

Carving the rim.

Carving the steam.  And my chop.

Mirrored, bw.  Taking a break.

More Carving

More carvity carve.

Time for a break.

Back on Track

Sidelined with the fighter poem book, but now I'm back on track with the xmas card.  I'll be getting back to carving the block today.

Carving finally.  Waiting for the phone to send a pic to my email.

Time for lunch.