Saturday, October 29, 2011

Livin' it up on a Friday night

David left yesterday afternoon for a gig on the Front Range and I didn't expect him home until late, so I decided to see what evenings were like in Studio V. Yup. Big happenings on a Friday night.


I'm feeling really manic about printing right now... it's been so long since I've printed just for me that every time I go to the studio I feel like I've had wayyyyy too much caffeine. (Note: pretty much any caffeine is way too much for me, so I tend to avoid it.)
HaveToPrintAsFastAsICanBeforeTheyTellMeIHaveToStopAgain. Or something like that.

The result is three color passes for 5 colors in two days on a brand new linocut. Goofy.

I didn't take a photo of the first pass, which was a very light pseudo-blend of gray to blue. What's a pseudo-blend, you ask? Well. It's one color of ink on one brayer and another color on the other brayer, blended on the block instead of the inking slab. It's a quick-and-dirty solution when I don't have a roller wide enough to ink the entire block, and since most of the middle part where the pseudo-blend occurs will be covered up by other colors.... it's good enough.


The third color, second pass was also very light, but I think you can see it here. Pink! Most of this will be covered up by the....


...third pass, which is another pseudo-blend of green and blue. I think you can tell that the bird bodies will ultimately cover that questionable mingling area.

There's a good bit of carving to do for the next step. I'm imagining a total of 8 passes... we'll see if it turns out that way!

In other news... I found out yesterday that my grandfather was a press operator for Stationers Corporation in California... must have been in the 1940s. Weird, huh? Do you think it's genetic?

7 comments:

  1. Looks like a dandy way to spend one's Friday night if you ask me! I can tell this latest print will be a beauty.

    That is just very cool about your Grandfather, and yeah, I think this sort of thing - artistic direction - has a genetic component to it ;).

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  2. Ibis! I'm doing pelicans now.Ibis later...
    Never argue with genetics! :-)

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  3. This looks great and only just started, sign of a good piece.
    I agree re genetics. I too am into the "bird theme" .

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  4. Sounds like a great way to spend a Friday night to me. ;-] Love the soft colors.

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  5. i def. think its genetic. its odd how we often find similarities in family past that we weren't aware of and how similar they are to present day.

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  6. oooohhhhh this is looking scrummy. I love hearing the ways that you get around the practical difficulties like not having a big enough brayer. It normally means I've slapped my forehead in a doh! moment. Proof that where theirs a will there's a way.
    have a great week.

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  7. It's certainly been an interesting revelation, discovering a print ancestor! I wonder if "fudging" things like blended rolls is an inherited trait, too. ;-)

    I have to do contract work today and it's making me crazy because I want to finish this print!

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Linocut in Progress: The Third Act

Time to wrap up this linocut ! And we are wrapping at warp speed (see what I did there?)... because there are deadlines. Exhibition deadline...