TIME TO THINK ABOUT YOT HORSE

It's time to start thinking about an image for my Year of the Horse print for the annual Chinese New Year exchange with Barenforum.  I drew up a couple of different ideas, but finally settled on this guy, who I'm calling Rupert.

I think he's very interesting.

A START ON A CELTIC SNAKE

It's time I got started on my Year of the Snake Print for BarenForum's Chinese New Year's Exchange.

First, come up with a drawing and transfer it to some wood blocks.  I'm going with two.  I haven't even figured out how many colors, but I'm only doing two blocks.

Peeling the paper off, and hopefully leaving the drawing.

Mixing a very transparent yellow using Akua inks.

Rolling  the first color directly onto the card.

I'm starting with 60 cards.  

I'm hoping Bentley the cat stays off them while they are drying.

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.

BARENFORUM EXCHANGE 43

If if wasn't for deadlines would anything ever get done?

I've been thinking about the print I need to make for Barenforum's Exchange 43. The subject is 'Typography'. What the heck is typography?

I love the internet...so, care of www.dictionary.com:

ty⋅pog⋅ra⋅phy

  [tahy-pog-ruh-fee]

–noun

1.	the art or process of printing with type.

2.	the work of setting and arranging types and of printing from them.

3.	the general character or appearance of printed matter.

This still didn't give me any ideas!

So, I employed my husband Darrell's method of creativity - cram your head with ideas, images, thoughts, facts and figures. Then, let them stew in the brain-pan for a while (for me, the longer the better). Then you don't look at images anymore and just start drawing.

Hey! It actually worked this time. Although, once I came up with this idea I did look at the old typewriter we had recently pulled from a dumpster that I have in my studio (it's a future project, itself).

So, now, I'm sharpening my carving tools. And, I won't make the same mistake with the wood that I made on my Christmas card print. I'll be using Jelotung, or cherry, although, I find cherry a little difficult to carve because of it's density. But that is what makes it such a great wood for fine lines. I need to really sharpen my tools and keep them sharp during the process.

Stay tuned! (it's due February 1st)