Cleaning Up a Block for Exhibit

The Red Rock Canyon Block Gets a Makeover

After printing, the woodblock for Red Rock Canyon: A Closer Look puzzle print was a bit dirty. They all are, really! That pesky ink gets everywhere.
If I have a plank block that needs to be exhibited or go out to market, I usually just recarve the soiled portions. Then I roll a fresh coat of ink on the relief, and sometimes cover the whole thing with thick polyurethane to "cancel" the block. I carve my signature somewhere visible prior to the polyurethane treatment.

But plywood presents a problem, especially Shina plywood. Carving the soiled inky parts sometimes uncovers an alternate universe...er, I mean an additional layer of ply that isn't quite as attractive as the top layer. So when I finish a plywood wood block, I use another method.

Rather than explain, I made a slide show.
https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts 
With block and prints now complete, time to start another project!

Finished the Red Rock Canyon puzzle print!

The Real Thing

Coloring a woodcut with watercolors is fun but also stressful. The print takes about 20 minutes to print and an $8 piece of paper and messing up is really not an option. After the first one, though, seems like the stress is gone and I enjoy playing with very dilute watercolors.

The first one requires that every color is mixed to "taste" both in hue and saturation so it takes a little while to get that first one done. After that, I just paint as many as I can until I run out of color. I can usually work on two at a time but this one was too big. Nevertheless, I finished two and hopefully my mixes stay wet until tomorrow under the lid of the palette.

List of Artists

The budding artists participated in my workshop and each received a tiny block. It was later my job to fit all the blocks into the overall composition. A slightly different approach to the puzzle print concept but it worked well. The overall has a real primitive feel, I think, and is reminiscent of some of the petroglyph imagery found around these parts.
Amazing all that you might find when you take a closer look!

From left to right on the little blocks, or from Sun to Pine Cones if you prefer.
Kate Sorom (sun)
Daniel Bo-Bo Clayton (the rock)
Kim Gilman (eagle)
Mark "The Red" Harlan (flower)
Laura Meg Viar (tortoise)
Maria Arango Diener (yucca)
Leslie Dill (yucca)
Mark "The Red" Harlan (petroglyph)
Me, again (globe mallow)
Maria Feinberg (beaver tail cactus bloom)
Graham Wimbrow (hare)
Kala Kales (joshua tree)
Kim Gilman (native corn baby)
Alba Arango (lizard petroglyph)
Me, again (pine cones)

Block is next in line to get cleaned up and sealed.

Here is the finished print and some details.

Red Rock Canyon: A Closer Look
Collaboration puzzle woodcut print

"A Closer Look" Printed and Colorized!

Artist At Work

My studio has been busy! These past few days I finished carving the block for the collaboration puzzle woodcut print Red Rock Canyon: A Closer Look.

Finished block, ready to print

Fast forward three days, printed proofs are beauties!

A very small edition, chillin' in the studio

Few printing problems, just like any other puzzle print, the blocks don't all behave the same when inked with a rather large roller. After a little tweaking, some begging and a lot of cursing, eventually it all works out. I basically maxed out the length of my press bed, the prints are 42 inches wide by 20 inches high.

I printed 10 "good ones" and am mulling the thought of printing about 6 more. Depends on how I feel in the next few days. Maybe that's just good enough!

Photoshop Colorizing Tricks

I planned this particular print as a hand-colored print so next step was to import the image into Adobe Photoshop to try out a few "watercolor" schemes. Briefly, I create a couple of layer-copies from the background, then by selecting the paper color and deleting the selection, I have a background layer and two additional layers with just black lines. 

I colorize the middle layer and leave the other copy on "top" to maintain the black line fresh. 

As I brush the transparent color (about 55%) over the lines on the color layer, the black lines of the woodcut get dimmed so the top line layer prevents the drawing from disappearing under the color.

Having the extra layer also allows me to "erase" some of the color (and consequently the black line) without affecting the top black-line layer.

The background remains in the...well, the background! and provides the nice tan paper color.

After trying out about three different color schemes and tweaking the hue and basically playing all day long, I came up with several finalists. My cats and my husband decided on the winning scheme. 

Next few days I break out the real watercolors and take brush to paper...wish me luck!

Red Rock Canyon: A Closer Look - the color grand plan!

Cutting the block A Closer Look puzzle print

My Favorite Part!

Definitely carving a block is my favorite part...then printing it...then having a bunch of prints hanging in the studio and the smell of ink permeating the house. That's my favorite part, all of it!

Only one item of explanation, the lighter parts on the top block (front, spanning both corners) are areas that I covered with a light wash of opaque paint so I could re-draw the block over my previous marker drawing. Tricks of the trade.

So here we go, sans (many) words, with a video/slide show at the end.

Block

Chisels

Spanish music!

And so it begins...

Love the way the carving catches the light

Red Rock Canyon: A closer look

Puzzle Print Alert!

I have begun work on the puzzle print A Closer Look, a collaboration woodcut print among participants of my workshops during my residency at Red Rock Canyon, near Las Vegas Nevada.
I ended up with fifteen blocks from 11 different recruited budding and established artists!

Here is a video/slide show of the studio happenings in the past couple of days.
It's up on my YouTube channel and I will be uploading more so if you want to subscribe directly, here is the url: https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts

I am ready to cut the block!

Workshop at Red Rock Canyon was wonderful

Images

Here are some shots from participants in the awesome Red Rock Canyon workshop and future puzzle print co-conspirators!

Videos

Nothing like a video to show how much fun we had. These two wonderful people were gracious enough to allow me to film them pulling their prints!


https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts





More fun next Saturday, the 19th, 10:00am - 2:00pm JOIN US!

Red Rock Residency in full bloom

Two days in heaven!

What an amazing place. I have hiked here so much long ago but it feels like every time I come there is a new place. Many new trails, better marked, connected...enough trekking for a life time.
I have spent two days walking about in the spring desert; I am tired but so filled with beauty that, as I rest, I long for the next adventure.

Red Rock Canyon is just West of Las Vegas, for those who haven't clicked on the link yet. The Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association graciously awarded me an artist-in-residence spot and I am taking full advantage of the opportunity. I will be teaching two workshops so be sure to check the schedule and the workshop flyer on my  page 1000Woodcuts on Facebook
I will also be uploading selected photos from the 685 that I have taken! Very selected...

Musings

My M.O. is to hike, absorb, take pictures and maybe sketch a little, always on a woodblock. But mostly I absorb while there and sketch later from memory or as I re-read my comments. Here are some excerpts of the first two days.

"The cold wind blows and I feel its bite. The breeze scatters visitors, they snap their photos and move on quickly. I am able to withdraw, drink the landscape and write a little. Cold wind also vibrates the landscape, shaking spring blooms and the hardy yucca spikes alike and scatters early clouds. Soon the sky is blue and the crowds quickly vanish leaving me with the view, the mountains, the beckoning canyons and the warming sun.

The view is hard to describe, easy to take in. There is a circle of mountains enveloping me, colorful rock mountains hiding canyons and springs. A velvet spread of spring green covers the desert and close to the ground there is the amazing beginning of spring in yellow, purple, pink blooms. The incredible globe mallow orange buds and flowers are everywhere and speckle the green velvet with fiery splashes. Sounds are continually interrupted by the purr of motors passing by and turning on and off. Voices telling jokes, lauding the landscape or bickering about the cold breeze enter and exit consciousness."

More to come...

Artist Residency in THE most beautiful place around these parts!

Artist Residency!

While all the excitement from the first puzzle prints exhibit was going on, I neglected to announce my upcoming artist residency.

Joshua Tree Forest, in Red Rock Canyon NCA

I am privileged and excited to have been chosen for the very first artist in-residence program offered by the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association in beautiful Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area very near Las Vegas, Nevada.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Just West of the city, this wondrous place has world-renowned rock climbing and geology, box canyons, water springs year around and more hiking and awe than can be absorbed in a short two weeks.

I will be frolicking about, making sketches, writing and leaving my wood-chips in various parts of the canyon. I will also offer two public and free workshops during my residency in which participants will help me make yet another puzzle print!

Details and Dates

My residency begins April 6th and ends April 19th.

WORKSHOP dates are Sunday, April 13th or Saturday, April 19th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Call 702-515-5367 to reserve a spot, limit is 15 students each day.
We will be making a collaborative puzzle print with each student carving a tiny piece of a big image. Should be tons of fun!

The exact schedule of my wanderings will be available at the Visitor's Center so anyone can come up and find me on any given day. We can chat all about nature, the Red Rock areas, woodcuts and art!
Grab a map at the Visitor's Center and check the Artist-In-Residency display for days and locations.

I am planning to be on location on the following days and dates. Call ahead or stop by the Visitor Center for exact times:


Sunday April 6
Monday April 7
Wednesday April 9
Friday April 11
WORKSHOP Sunday April 13
Wednesday April 16
Friday April 18
WORKSHOP II Saturday April 19

Blog, Woodcuts, and Pictures

My M.O. when art-venturing in nature is to walk, drink the beauty, write a little, sketch a little and photograph a little. I will be faithfully recording the daily frolics in this blog, and on Facebook and/or Twitter as much as I can.
The plan is to make a bunch of "sketch" smaller woodcuts and write about the experience, later to be assembled in a publication of some sort.

Come on out and enjoy!