Which honestly will only create another blue, but it won't be a bright one and it will set the stage for some other things to happen. Because, Readers, we're printing a transparent gray.
Yep. Just gray.
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| Reduction linocut in progress, Step 8 rollout. Thrilling, eh? |
It doesn't look like much, but it's very exciting because it's printing over everything, including the bird. No masks at all! What will happen?
This!
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| Step 8 printed. Yawn. |
Yeah, not really exciting after all, eh? In fact most of the toned-down blue created by this gray ink will get covered with subsequent colors, but I think it was crucial to tone things down a wee bit at this stage. Because just you wait... ain't nothing subtle going to happen next.
We're printing... green!
And not just any green. A weird yellow-y green, because of course there's lots of that pesky blue on the print already and it's going to influence whatever I put down. I want the green to stay on the warmish side for now, so alarming chartreuse-y hue for the win! (I hope.)
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| Step 9 rollout. Don't be afraid! |
It's something, isn't it? This is actually the improved color. The first one I mixed was entirely too brilliant lime in attitude and made things look like a circus. This color looks bright in the rollout and on the block, but the hope is that it will cooperate with the already-printed tones when laid over the top of them.
Of course I didn't want to take any chances with this color in the bird, so a new mask was required.
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| Step 9 mask |
NOW something exciting is happening, eh? Just look at the difference from Step 8 to Step 9! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Believe it or not, most of this bright green will be covered by other colors, but it was important to establish it as the undertone for things that will be happening next. In fact I think the next color pass will probably be another gray... but we'll see how I feel after I spend some time staring at this stage hanging on the wall. The prints are quite wet now, so a little drying time will be necessary before anything more can be added.
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| Steps 8 and 9 side-by-side. Wheeeeee! |
Believe it or not, most of this bright green will be covered by other colors, but it was important to establish it as the undertone for things that will be happening next. In fact I think the next color pass will probably be another gray... but we'll see how I feel after I spend some time staring at this stage hanging on the wall. The prints are quite wet now, so a little drying time will be necessary before anything more can be added.
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| Step 9 printed |
We're going to have a stretch of rain here on the coast for the next couple of days... so what better time to hunker down in the studio?
And honestly, I need to get away from computers for a bit! I finally bit the bullet and bought a replacement for my 10-year-old desktop machine... but of course the transition from my old system is not smooth. I've had to order cable adapters to get the two machines to talk to each other... and of course the cascade of software that no longer works is also giving me headaches. I'm sure once I get it all sorted out I will be a happy camper... but... OOPH. It's almost as tedious as four (or was it five?) layers of blue ink.
Onward.
looking good!
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed!
Delete9 steps...9 more to go?? ;)
ReplyDeleteGoodness, I hope not. But maybe. I've already done two more since this post, and I think there are at least 4 more to go. But the last ones will be small... bird details.
Delete