EXCHANGE 43 FINISHED

I've got it done! Can't say I'm really happy with the edition. There are a lot of goobers. I'm just amazed that I don't see them at the time of printing. At least not all of them. I do see and correct a lot of mistakes, but they still get through. It seems you never make the mistakes on the already bad ones, just the so-far-so-good ones. My apologies to the other members of the exchange.

Oh, the joys of printmaking!

I will be putting these into the mail soon.

THIRD COLOR EXCHANGE 43

Here it is Sunday, supposed to be a day my husband and I go play, and I'm working on my print! But, I want to get it done, and the paper is damp, I've heard horror stories about mold from keeping the paper damp for too long.

This is the third color applied. I cut down the block I was using yesterday. So, you could call it a reduction cut. This color is a medium value blue-violet for the background.

Putting a different value on really helps the image to start to come together.

After all the papers were inked with the new color, then I cut away more of the block for the final color. I've got myself kind of messed up, so I'll be going back to the first plate (the one I used for the yellow) and printing over the letters again because I don't think they show up well enough. This is not the block I used to print the letters in the first place. But, since I cut away the lettered area on the 'blue' block I have to go back to the 'yellow' block where they haven't been cut away. I'm really worried about registration for that because you can't miss at all to get the letters printed over the same area again. So, I will try it on a few and if it doesn't seem to be lining up I will give up and live with the way they look now. How did I get myself into this pickle?!

I got an Ott-light with a magnifying lens built in several years ago. I don't think I could carve without it now. It really makes it easier. I highly recommend them. I got mine at Office Depot on sale, but I've seen them online, too.

SECOND COLOR FOR 43

Oh, I was so nervous about doing this second color. I've always had problems with registration. It makes multi-plate printing so frustrating for me. I should stay in kindergarten until I get it right, but I love multi-colors and always want to do more than my skills. But, then again, if one doesn't go beyond their skill level they will never grow.

I was pleasantly surprised when the registration worked out the first time! Yeah!

I used the kento system this time, for the first time. It's the traditional way to do it, and it works great. Should trust tradition, I guess!

The photo below shows the corner and side kento projections that I cut into the board. It will give the same border to each print also.

I also used another traditional way of transferring the image which apparently worked very well. For those two things are what makes it register or not. I'm thrilled it all worked out. It makes things so much more pleasant.

FIRST COLOR FOR EXCHANGE 43

I was so good at procrastinating today.

I cleaned up the studio and put new paper on my tables. I moved where I was working (not that I needed to, but more probably because it was something to do other than work on the print). In order to move working areas I needed an extension cord. I had to go borrow one. I took some pictures of the finished studio cabinets (Darrell had hung the last of the drawers that morning).

Finally, I realized what I was doing - avoiding getting started on the printing part. So, after we went to the grocery store and got some lunch, I got out my watercolors and started working on the colors. I had picked up a second mocha while we were out, so I was a-buzzing. I had lots of energy! [I usually only have one espresso in the morning, and never have coffee after lunch.]

The colors still aren't what I envision in my head, but I'm going for it.

The yellow was the color I wanted so I started with that - Aureolin yellow. It's kind of otherwordly, greenish and warm. I like that, but I wanted it to be very pale. It ended up not being pale, of course. I just got carried away trying to get a consistent coverage. Oh, well. It will all work out.

I have a weird mixture of very good tools and very cheap tools. I have nice brushes that I bought from McClains's. But I have yet to buy a nice baren. The good ones are very expensive. I haven't given myself a good reason. It's at the top of my list though. And I didn't notice that the bamboo covering was torn on the edge until I was ready to start. I figured I had better just start in after all my earlier procrastinating.

It actually went fairly well, I was pleased with the results. The real test will be with the next block, trying to get everything registered properly. That is the part I've been trying to avoid.

Did I mention that I went with Poplar wood. It was a plank Darrell had in his extra wood pile. He flattened for me, and it's a good thing he had to leave it long to go through the wide belt sander, because I ended up using both ends. I enjoyed carving it. The grain didn't give me any problems, it didn't fight against me. I could carve in any direction with no difficulty. There's not a lot of grain pattern, which means there probably won't be any grain showing in the print. Can't have it both ways.