This is a hard thing I’m doing. The print – well, that’s technically challenging. But the hard thing is showing my plans and intentions and each step of the way. It’s so much more impressive to come out with a finished print, and let everyone assume that’s just what I meant to do. This way, I have to show everyone what I hoped for, and everyone can compare that to what actually turns out. You’ll all get to see the “Oh, I guess I didn’t want a line there after all.”, and “Blue? Was there going to be a blue layer?” As these notes move along, please be aware that even though I say “this will happen”, it ain’t necessarily so. I won’t know for sure until it’s all done.
For this print, I’m going back to my Japanese woodblock training. There will be a separate block for each major color. But I’ll use lino reduction technique too. Each of those color blocks will be reduced to give different shades of that color. For example, one block for blue, but with that one block I’ll print light blue flowers and darker blue background, and a darker blue vase with blended shadows. The most important part of the Japanese woodblock method is that I’ll be using a primary block, called the key block. This is always black. As well as any black areas, it has all the lines, like an ink drawing of the print. It’s used as the basis for all the other blocks.
FROM THE BEGINNING
The whole project started with a tulip given me by a gardening friend. It was orange, and intense, and full of swirling petals. I decided I wanted to make it into a print.
First, I took reference photos. Here’s one of them. The angle is odd; I’ll change the vases and move the other flowers around, but this is the view of the tulip that I decided to use.
I made sketches and tried different arrangements, and came up with a detailed pencil drawing. I inked it, scanned it into the computer, and then played around with colors.
Here’s the final version I decided I liked best. Notice, I trimmed the height of the picture, putting the bottom line closer to the red vase.
I decided that tulip was complicated enough I’d better try it alone first, to figure out how many reduction impressions I’d have to do to get the kind of color blends I want. I didn’t take photos of every impression. The first on the left has cream-to-yellow, light-to-medium orange, and medium-to-bright orange. I carved away bits, and printed the next color; a darker orange, second from the left. Then, with the same block, I tried using red-to-dark-red – number three. I then tried a fine black outline, the way it would be if I print the key block in black. I’m still debating whether to print the interior lines of the tulip in red or black. The main outline, like all the others in the print, will be black.
Here's the 5x7 block, after the last carving and impression.
I’ll mention here – I keep notes on each print I make. It helps me remember what I did, what I might want to do the same or different next time.
THE BLOCKS – AND CARVING
I like to glue my lino blocks to a stiff backing, so they don’t wobble up and down while I’m carving and printing. I use Ampersand Artist Hardboard from Dick Blick. It comes in different size sheets; I get the 24 x 36 and trim it. I find I like having the hardboard about a half inch larger than the lino all around. It makes it easier to handle an inked block without getting ink on my fingers, and the paper, and the brayer handles, and my clothes, and… Here’s a glued up block, topside and edge.
I made a final version of the line drawing. You can see this is a bit different from what I scanned in, in particular the little white flowers and the tulip leaf.
I taped it to the key block for tracing it to the block. I use white Saral transfer paper for this.
And here’s the block, ready to carve.
I carve with regular Speedball lino tools, but I do sharpen them myself.
The carving took four days, working 2 to 4 hours on it each day.
Day 1 – Monday
Day 2 - Tuesday
Day 3 - Wednesday
Day 4 - Thursday
And that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Tomorrow morning, I’ll do a proof print of the block, do any cleanup needed, and transfer that image to my other blocks. Fingers crossed!
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