Showing posts with label year of the tiger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label year of the tiger. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

YEAR OF THE TIGER PRINTED

Yahoo!  I persevered and got the printing done in one session on my Year of the Tiger print for BarenForum's annual Exchange.  It was originally going to have two colors on it, but I didn't like the way it looked, so went with just black.  I'll probably try hand coloring a few to see how they look.
I had the papers already cut and ready to go, there is quite a stack.  I can't remember how many exactly, probably about 60.  
It's Akua ink on a printmaking paper I picked up on Daniel Smith's Sale table - No Name.  The paper is cut 5" by 6".  I carved the image on a piece of Poplar and printed them using my Ettan Etching press.  Just the printing part took about two to two-and-a-half hours, with probably another hour testing and rejecting and setting things up.



Pretty good for one day....but I wanted to see how it would work to print on fabric.  So.... I cut some thin white cotton and printed on that.  It turned out really great!  Just like the paper, it was pretty clean and crisp. That encouraged me to try it on canvas.  I cut and ironed some raw canvas I had on hand  and printed nine lucky tigers.  Kind of Andy Warhol-ish.  Pretty cool!
This has given me some ideas for a project tomorrow!

Monday, March 01, 2010

YEAR OF THE TIGER STARTED

I flipped over the plank of Poplar I used on the last print I carved and started afresh on the back of it.  There is room for all three of the blocks I need for this print.
I had tried to transfer the drawings before using photocopies.  It didn't work, the image didn't transfer.
This time I used print outs from my HP copier at home and it transferred just as it's supposed to.  Yeah!



I used diluted rice paste to glue the papers face down to the plank.  When it was good and dry, several days later, in fact, I moistened the paper and it just rolled right off leaving behind a beautiful reversed image.  Yeah!


 It left a very crisp and usable image.  Now I just have to start carving.

Hmmm...I can't remember if I sharpened my tools after I used them last time.  I sure hope so!