The Battle is Lost

There will be no Pelican/Knight woodcut for Kitty.

This is so sad I can barely type it. Kitty has succumbed to the H1N1 virus -- swine flu. She was young and strong and so vibrant just a few short weeks ago, and now she is gone. It hit her fast and it hit her hard, going straight into pneumonia, and she never recovered. She passed away yesterday when they took her off of life support. She was only 27.

Folks, H1N1 is no joke. It is horrifyingly real. We all know young people and they are the most at risk (behind those with pre-existing conditions). Please see that your friends and loved ones get the vaccination when it comes out.

And if you disagree please don't post it here. I am grieving.

The Battle Continues

The knight's portion didn't seem to be holding its own, so I now have it capturing the pelican's foot in the belt (as the pelican is biting the belt). Now each has a hold on the other. Getting there.

And I'm thinking orange, because it is a favorite color of Kitty's.

Pelican/Chivalry Block

Baroness Kolfinna, already a Knight, is being elevated to the Pelicans. I've been working on a woodcut design all day to commemorate the occasion. I've only got a couple weeks, so I've got to get busy.

The belt is white, as is the bird. Only the blood drop adds color. Makes for a rather stark image. Perhaps I can give it a border or a background color. She likes bold colors. Her device is blue, black and white; her badge is orange.

I developed the image from an earlier one, the Laurel/Pelican block I did for Sven & Kolfinna to give as largesse at Lillies War in '06.



The theme for the war was Laurels vs Pelicans, so it seemed apropos. A laurel/pelican wanted one (which I need to rework slightly to remove the Lillies and Caid references). Now all I need to do is work up a Chivalry/Laurel block (but that's for another time).

Maybe a blue background, at least for Kolfinna. I'll carve the pel and belt and leave them white. I can roll it up in blue (or orange), with a spot of red for the drop.

I could carve a patterns background of some sort, just to give texture to the color.

Hmm. Kitty is using a round shield with her viking ladies...on orange. Maybe orange is the way to go afterall.

Horse Block Musings

Another possibility for the block: a Przewalski foal. They're so knobby-kneed and gangly. ;-]

Possible New Block

Well it's about time. I'm finally considering a new woodblock, a paleo-critter. This is the Przewalski's horse, or Takhi, the small Mongolian horse, the oldest horse in the world. Looks rather like something you might find painted on a cave wall.

This is one possible version, a kicking horse. Or it's mirror image:

I like the upright brush mane and the stripe down the back to the tail. Kinda like a zebra. Also short-legged with a large head.

Tiger & Sloth -- New Ink 8-]

Made In the Shade 4"x6"

Woo and hoo! 8-] Success finally. I ordered some new ink -- Akua intaglio (also good for woodcuts) -- and it just came this morning. I've been printing up a storm (hopefully not for real, as it's quite overcast out there today).
;- j

I love Akua ink! It stays wet forever (hopefully not on the print!). I was able to print close to 20 prints today and probably could have gone on longer but I got pooped.
I haven't taken any pics on my own press yet -- a Griffin -- so I took a couple today. Doesn't really show the press. Oh well, I'll get around to that. But I can't keep using the old printmaking class press shots when I put something up on Etsy.






And here's a shot of my drying rack. It's still on the floor, but I'll eventually have it up on my paper safe (currently "safely" stored under my work table and hence unaccessable).



I haven't gotten around to organizing my print studio after I moved my weaving studio out and into what used to be our son's bedroom. (He still hasn't moved all of his junque out of the house, but at least it's out of my weaving studio!)

My I'm chatty today. Must be all the happy I got from all that production.
8-]

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.