relief prints

Yesterday, I explored the experimental nature of rubbings, as part of the contemporary practice class with Cathy Mclaurin at the Essex Art Center.

It was fun to wander the studio looking for textures and patterns. So today I explored my own studio for simple textures and made a rubbing with a fat black crayon.

This takes the need to draw right out of the process. I just see and print. Do you recognize some of the items? I think that I am going to carry some rice paper and this black crayon with me on my walks and see if I can capture more interesting textures and patterns.

It is an experimental process. Somethings print i nice crisp line and some things don’t. Look for a strong raised edge to get the best results. Enjoy!

Today I cut some foam evergreen trees inspired by  a chain of trees I cut last summer. I like the organic unevenness of the branches.

I cut 3 different sizes with the hope that they would work together to create some cards. They were easy to draw and cut with little scissors.

Then I test printed the relief blocks on some paper with speedball block printing ink, gold, yellow, green, brown and blue.

I added a star to the top of the tree and the Hope stamp below and then a few dark blue dots. I may not use all the trees together but I do like how the littlest tree with the medium tree as shown above.

I think I will have some fun playing with these stamps.

Have you tried  this method of printmaking without a press? Go for it!

Today I made soft carved block inspired by my foot prints. I am in a class called Contemporary Practice at Essex Art Center. We are being challenged to “map” a part of our body.

So I inked up my feet and did some printing on some big papers and started to get inspired. I am not sure where I will go with the idea but I am open to discovering.

I wanted to “map” a body part that was positive or a celebration of health or strength. First, I was thinking about focusing on my knee because it has been in so much pain for the last 6 weeks. Then I decided that I did not want to give that pain any more attention or power.

So since I like printmaking and bookmaking, I think my mapping project will take on that type of form. I hope to learn more about the wonders of feet in the process and celebrate the limited focus on the 2 things that I stand on all day.

I like the idea that I am using my feet to print and to make the art that is about discovering my feet – a full circle. So for day 16 of my #seedrawprint challenge I have made two printing matrices, a block for each foot. To see all 16 prints for the challenge click through the first few pages of my blog or if you are on instagram check out @LindaGermainArt and #SEEdrawprint.

Today, I carved a couple more eraser blocks with the words JOY and LOVE. I did a pencil drawing and then placed it face down on the eraser and rubbed to transfer the image to the block for carving.

I am getting faster and more confident the more blocks that I carve. I did a test print with a water based marker, and was pleased.

Then I rolled up some blue and red ink and printed a couple of cards and added some words to some gelatin prints to “finish” them off.

Sometimes the word works perfectly and then other times not so much.

I like to have the freedom to experiment and let it be ok to fail sometimes.

This is day 14 of my #SEEdrawPrint challenge, to see draw and print each day in November.

Do you have favorite ways to finish your prints? I introduce a few of mine in the Printed Gifts workshop. It is available now as a self study. Check out the details on the printmaking workshop page and see if it is right for you.

Today I did a drawing of an orange slice and carved a small block for printing.

I really like the simple shapes and the block can be printed in different ways to create several different patterns.

I test printed the block with a purple water based marker and then I could easily remove any of the high spots that were transferring ink in unwanted places.

Then I printed a few small cards with the word “smile” in the middle. The orange slices feel happy and full of sunshine. They make me want to smile.

I decided that I like block printing for working with paper and I like thermofax screen printing when printing on fabric. So far I am keeping up with my 30 day challenge to #SEEdrawPrint each day in November. Click through the blog posts to see the rest.