Carving, carving, carving

Once upon a time I was certain that my favorite part of relief printing was the carving of the block. Pulling the first print was exciting, but editioning and subsequent cleanup seemed anti-climactic.

These days I find I really enjoy the printing part. I like experimenting with transparent colors and seeing the image emerge over time. I even get so impatient to just get ON with printing the next color that I sometimes get myself into trouble.

I still don't like the cleanup so much.

So the good news is that it's going to be a few more weeks before I have to clean up after the printing of this stout 24 x 36-inch chunk of linoleum. The bad news is that I've been carving for hours and don't seem to have much to show for it. Ooph.

The reason for all this personal torment is of course my upcoming residency at the Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin. It's just two weeks away! Well... I leave in two weeks. This block and some other gear need to ship in just one week!

Thankfully I wrapped up a big illustration project yesterday so this block can live on the drawing table for a few days and I can work on it in small batches of time. The gerenuk demonstration piece may or may not move any further forward before shipping date... but I feel like it's good enough shape to go "as is."

Have a great weekend, everyone. If you need me, you know where to find me. Carving. Carving. Carving.