Umi's Tears

Messing about with the cartoon today.  Tilted dragon eye, smaller wave reflected in eyeball.  I can't help thinking I'm displacing tho.  I'd better get the cartoon transfered and get to carving soon.

Getting Ready to Carve

Paper and wood ordered from McClains.  Birch block sanded and stained.  Rough cartoon, but good to go.  If it's all worked out ahead of time I get bored.  The fun is in the carving.  Getting ready to have fun.  ;-]

The Painter's Keys

A pleasant surprise.  8-]

I occasionally read an artist's blog, The Painter's Keys, by Robert Genn. I popped in the other day and discovered him talking about "unschooling," the concept developed by John Holt, an educational philosopher. My friend Kim introduced us to his newsletter and we became aficionados. So I fired off a comment to the blog and lo and behold, I'm the first of the accompanying comments. With a pic of my latest woodcut! I'm jazzed.


http://clicks.robertgenn.com/unschooling.php
The unschooling of art

Japan Relief Print

Moving right along (no rest for the wicked -- or chronically lazy).  Working on a sketch for the Japan Relief Benefit Print.

This is a giant wave reflected in an umi dragon's eye.  I had to negotiate the design with my son, who has a proprietary interest in the umi dragon, as he has a roll playing character based on the concept.  He wanted to make sure the dragon was portrayed in a positive manor.  I hope this meets with his approval.

I'm tentatively calling it Umi's Tears.

Eye tilted slightly.  Tear moved over.  Don't know what I'd do w/o my scanner and Paint Shop Pro.  ;-y

Yet another iteration.

The thing about art is it's obsessive/compulsive.  Thank goodness dinner is almost done and I can quit this for awhile.  ;-j

Mythology Exchange - Prints Away

Mother Nature Welcomes Thor prints are on their way!

Mother Nature has been a fixture of our family mythos since our son Will used to watch the BBC cartoon program Super-Ted, with its improbable cast of characters too strange to mention. Mother Nature became an amorphous, generic force for good in our family, like a cosmic granny.



Thor was our beloved family dog who, as all children know, went to doggie heaven when he passed away. It has been a decade since he left us, but he is still fondly in our thoughts.

Printing - Day 3

Better day of printing yesterday.  Hotter weather, so ink dried out faster.  Had to clean the block often and dig out ink in the finer lines with a stylus (tedious task, but worth it).

Now that I've finished printing the set, I'm seriously recarving the block to open up the finer lines.  I drive myself mad sometimes with those fine lines.  Sometimes I think I should be doing engraving, or go back to etching.

Progressing.

Time for a break.

Printing - Day 2

Less than satisfying second day of printing.  The one on the left is from yesterday, the one on the right is from today.  I suspect it's the sometimes unavoidable side effect of too-fine lines.  They swell after the block has been wet.  I often have to recarve finer lines and I think this is one of those occasions.

Also it's cooler today than yesterday and the ink texture may be affected by it.

So I'll be recarving some of the lines next.  The usual two steps forward, one step back.  ;-j

Recarving.  Powder helps to show contrast.

Mother Nature Welcomes Thor

Ok, I like how this came out.  ;-]  Now all I have to do is print 30 more.  ;- j

Test Print - Mother Nature

I was playing around with a scan of the block in Paint Shop Pro and I decided I really like this look:

So I did some test prints today using Burnt Sienna.

I really like this.

I'll tear down the rest of my paper and have at it tomorrow.  Company coming for dinner and I've got ready to get.  ;-]

Finished Carving Mythology Block

Finished carving.  Time for a test print.  I'll be doing that tomorrow, but in the meantime, here's a faux print (mirror image of the block in black & white):

More Carving

Another hour of carving.  The stars are addictive.

~*~

Another hour or so of carving.

~*~

Another session.

~*~

Moving along.

That should do it for today.

Carving - Thor & Mother Nature

Starting to carve.  It's those first marks that get the juices flowing.

More carving.  ;-]

~*~

Yet more carving.

Sanding and Staining

Sanding and staining the block today.  It's a cold, soon-to-be damp day, so I expect it to take a while to dry.  Still working on the cartoon, but I'll have something to transfer when the block is ready.

Starry Background

Cut & paste Mother Nature and Thor over a starry background.  I want to do something like my Once In a Blue Moon woodcut for the stars.

Ordered paper.  Probably carve this on a 6"x8" block.  Print size in chuban, 7.5"x10" for Baren exchange #48.  I'll print some on larger paper, maybe 10"x11".  Easier to mat and frame larger paper.

Mother Nature - Pastel Sketches

Pulled out the pastels to work on my Mother Nature block. The theme is Mother Nature welcoming our dog, Thor (because all dogs go to heaven).

I want to incorporate images of the moon and stars.  Back to the pastels.

Another couple sketches:

And another one.

Personifying Mother Nature.

Spring Projects

Getting behind!  So what else is new?

The mythology print exchange is due May 1.  Time to take it off the back burner and give it another stir.

Added to the menu:  a commemorative collection for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.  As I'm still missing a friend who lives in the affected area, this project has personal meaning.

Blocks for the Puzzle Block Exchange are going out soon.  No idea yet what I'll put on it.  Guess I'll wait to see which piece I get.  It has a city theme.

On the poetry front, fighter poem assignments have gone out and are due back May 1.  That's when my mad editor skills come into play and the book gets magically done.  That's due early June.

I'm teaching a sprang class at the Fiber Retreat, also in June.  Still compiling supplies and making the looms.

And for silliness I'm still writing fanfic entries for the Last Author Standing contest.  Haven't been voted off the island yet.

Throw in Will's and Bill's birthdays and it's a busy Spring.  Is that all?

Cosmic Tidbits - Leftovers II

Prints are away.  This is the best signed one.  I had some trouble finding anything that would write on both the very dark prints and the lighter ones.  I opted for a silver pen for the darker prints and dark pencil on the lighter ones.  Not entirely satisfactory, but done.

I can't wait to see what prints I get back in exchange.  8-]

Leftovers II Scans

Here are some of the Leftovers II prints.  Quite a lot of variety in paper, ink and image, which adds to the charm in my opinion.  ;- ]

They're all pieces of the Once In a Blue Moon block, which tickles me.  Hey, if printmaking isn't fun, why do it?  ;- y

Now I'll pick 14 of the best (or most curious) and send them winging on their way.

Can't wait to see what I get back in exchange.  8-]

Blue Moon Leftovers

Well this was fun.  I had to stop myself from printing up every leftover piece of paper in the studio.  I only need 14 for the Leftovers II exchange.

I print my woodblocks face down, but this is basically how I aligned my leftover pieces of paper on the block.

Haven't decided if I'll sign and label them on the back, or on the front with a metalic pen.  Don't know which "rule" to break:  the sign-it-in-pencil rule or the sign-it-on-the-front rule.  ;- j

Any suggestions?

Mythology Musings

Well it's feast or famine around here.  I've got another print exchange I'm gearing up for:  Baren Forum Ex. #48, theme:  Mythology.

My first thought was a variation on the goddess Sophia, or Wisdom.  I envision it something similar to a watercolor I did awhile back for a friend when she got her Masters in Physics:

Julie: Mistress of Science

A start. 

But then I got to thinking of another watercolor I did when our beloved dog Thor passed away:

Thor Greets Mother Nature

I did it in the style of Klimt and patterned it after a photograph of my sister and Thor:

Getting there.

I'm thinking of recreating Thor & Mother Nature, but more in the style of Mistress of Science.

Time to make some pastel sketches.