LINO COMPLETE

I did my last cut on my 'Stormy Meadow' linocut last night. Really didn't turn out as I hoped, but more lessons learned!

WOOD ENGRAVING

My quest to continue learning about printmaking leads me to so many wonderful artists. I was first was introduced to Dave Bruner's fantastic wood engravings through one of McClain's great catalogs (a must for anyone working at the art of printmaking). He creates his engravings on end grain wood blocks and they are a visual delight.

http://www.davebruner.com/

THIRD CUT

Finished the third cut on the reduction linocut. The plan is for two more, one for shadows and one for detail.

SECOND CUT

I finished the second cut on the reduction linocut I'm working on. Now that the clouds have been added, I'll start working on the meadow and trees in the foreground.

I also tried doing a pastel drawing of my grandson. This was prompted by my friend from Lopez Island telling me about a pastel workshop she did. I could only use hard pastels and detail didn't happen.

DREAMS

Off the art subject for a minute...I had a strange dream the other night that was about my wife and me in bed. The strange part was that she was blowing a vuvuzela horn. I'm not sure if that was suppose to mean that she was a fan of what we were doing or if I'm as boring as a soccer game!!

I hope to pull prints from the second cut on the new linocut this afternoon.

STORMY MEADOW

I've started a new landscape reduction linocut and I hope to be able to show each step and color as its printed. I just need to remember to take pictures as it moves along.

NEW AND OLD

I tried a quick monoprint last year using the 'subtractive' technique, something I had not attempted before. My other prints were done by painting (with water soluble ink) onto a sheet of plastic and then printing onto damp paper. This print was done by entirely coating the plastic with etching ink and then bringing out the subject by wiping away parts of the ink.

The other picture post is an acrylic and color pencil painting of my wife's cat that I did a few years ago.

COPPER ETCHING - GRANDSON

Never too much of a good thing. Seems that I'm finding myself using my grandson as the subject in everything I do with my art lately. A copper plate etching works wonderfully to capture my little man for the whole family.

ONE NIGHT STAND

Last night I found a piece of linoleum that hadn't been cut plus a little time on my hands so...

I really need to get a little more serious but just haven't felt like working on anything that requires detail. Today I'm surfing some of the art pages and blogs that I enjoy, so may be I'll find some inspiration from others.

WOODBLOCK - WOOD ENGRAVING - LINOCUTS

I am placing a link to a wonderful site with information and fantastic print samples on printmaking techniques by John Steins. A word of warning though, don't visit the site unless you have a little time on your hands. If you love printmaking, it's hard not look at all of the different posts. He shows the major differences between woodblock printing and wood engraving. He has added excerpts from a 1940s book by Paul Landacre on the art of wood engraving that is still interesting today. Proceed with caution.

http://johnsteins.com/

A couple of my own modest attemps. One a linocut, the other a woodblock print.

UKIYO-E SITE PLUS ANOTHER COLLOGRAPH

StumbleUpon sends me recommendations of websites I my find interesting. One is a great site with tons of information on Ukiyo-E (woodblock printing). There are demonstrations and examples of both traditional and contemporary techniques. You can find information on carving, registration, gradations and printing. There is also a section on philosophy and a gallery of prints. A great place to get your feet wet if you are interested in Moku-Hanga.

http://learningobjectsdev.wesleyan.edu/blockprinting/

I also made another attempt at a collograph. Mixed results!!