Stage 4: Final

The final stage consists of the last and darkest color. In this stage we cut away everything on the image that wasn't going to be the final color. My final color was a dark blue. This complemented the orange in my first color.

In my stage 2 and 3 I didn't have my ink mixture down the way I wanted it as well as I used too much ink. Beginning mistakes I believe. The last color went on nicely, but a lot of the white was lost when I applied the green in stage 2. Next time I'll know what I'm doing!

My favorite part of this print is the ground area. The original image was of a burl, or tumor-like piece of wood. I think that it worked really well to create this landscape feeling. I intentionally left some of the carving marks in this area (as in where the red and green meet. I wanted this to add texture to the piece as well as incorporate the process into the final outcome.

I think knowing what I do now, I would make the creature less busy. I would also perfect my inking technique as well. I think overall, though, that this piece turned out pretty well.

Stage 3

Stage three involved carving out the areas that we wanted to remain from stage two. This included our third color. My third color was red to complement the green from stage two. Unfortuneatly I used too much ink on this stage as well. At this stage the image really starts to become clear!

Stage 2

Stage two consisted of carving cout what we wanted to remain as our first printed color, so for me it was carving out that which I wanted to remain orange. This stage used our second color, which for me was green, which would complement my third color, red. I used a green that leaned more toward yellow than blue. This color still needed to be pretty light.

Stage 1

After the planning process was complete we began carving. The first stage of carving was to carve that which we wanted to be white. This stage is crucial in planning for a nice final result. The white details can't be added in later, so it is important to plan all this from the start.

After the carving was done, I created my first color, a light neutralized orange. This is the result.

AH HA!

Here we are, mostly completed! I may need to do something with the fish. Maybe some aquatint. We'll see what I turn in next week!

The Beginning

Let me start by saying that woodblock printing captured me from the very beginning. The bold color and complicated technique were two things that caught my interest. The first stage of the process for us began with our design. We began with a collage of collected images of our choice. We combined the images to create an image that we felt compelled and dedicated to create. After the image was laid out color choice naturally entered the thought process. For my piece I chose to use two sets of complementary colors: orange and blue, red and green. Then we began carving process.

Spongebob Fishypants

Here is the fourth stage. I used some real sponges to add the texture behind the reeds. Again, it's getting there, but it's missing the background. The fish still remains my favorite part of the piece.

Waiting in the Reeds

Here is the third stage of my plate. It's getting there. I like the background texture of the wrinkly paper when I scanned the image. That's all.

Lick the Fish

Frankly, I hated this article. The movie being reviewed looked so dumb and probably wasn't worth watching, let alone writing a full center page article with pictures included. *sigh* However, I loved the lips and the look of the newspaper. As a side note, after I ran this through the press, the ink of the paper came off on the plate and looked awesome! I wish I could have freeze framed that image, but alas, no camera. :(

Magnificent Mistake

When I first began to compose my image, I wanted to start with the textures of the still alive plants outside. However, since I was new to the process, it didn't occur to me that when I put freshly imprinted soft ground on a warm hot plate, it would melt. Undoubtably frustrated, I started over and ended up with the fish. However, I loved the way the soft ground scrap paper looked, so I used this as my first alternative surface!

The Possiblities of a Blank Canvas

Here is the beginning of my fishy image. It may look blank, but what I appreciate about this stage of the process are the possibilities.

Almost There

moving there

Third transition

First start

Second Start

Etching

This is what the finished zinc plate looks like.

This is the final stage of the etching.

This was the second-to-last stage.

I had some issues with the aquatint, but

it added interest to the print.

This was the third stage.

I added some mesh-like soft ground.

This was the first stage of my etching print.

At this point, I was unsure of how I wanted the design to look.

My days of etching...

Test plate alternative service.

Test plate

My first attempt at adding stitching into my prints. Here I took small pieces of homemade paper and stitched them together, from there I added a poem to the print that I felt captured the idea of my image I was starting to create.

Moving forward with textiles. Here I used a photo from a magazine that I though represented a nice romantic feeling I wanted to be portrayed in my print.

Added value to my plate with various techniques, as well as adding more etching to the composition.

An alternative surface, inside of a grocery paper bag with lace and ribbon stitched onto the paper.

Here I added lace with hand stitched rose's that I made from ripped fabric. I added the magazine cut out with metallic thread.

Print on canvas with fabric stitch to the border.

This is another alternative surface that was used for my last etching I have done. Zombies make everything more interesting.

I am finally done with my wood cut and this is how it is looking with the last color appied to it as you can see I used a very dark blue. I am happy with how the woodcut came out in the end. It was fun.

here are two of my etchings at different stages the one on the right is on one of my alternative surfaces. As you can see I have added a lot more to the plate since the picture of the one on the right was taken.

All my birds

My final six.

Final woodcut

Done. No more bird.

The final look

The bird of paradise

First color

My first color of this process. Sun Shine yellow.

So yeah... here is when the bird started to take shape

Removing all the little white dots, and giving shape to the bird

The End is Nigh

My plate after everything was all said and done.



















Final stage of my etching on brown cardboard.




















Little late but at least it's here now. Here's my woodblock in it's final stage.













My happy little paper family.















And this is the ends.



















And just for fun, this is Drew using black magic.

This is the final stage of my print. It does not have the final color on it because a piece of the wood broke off and caused the prints to not register correctly.

My woodcut experience, from start to finish....

Above is the collage layout of my original image. It is a combination of things that apply to my person life, things given to me from my family members, all combined into one composition.

Here is the block of wood where I used acetate and a press to transfer the collage image onto the wood. From there I removed the information I wanted to remain white.

First stage of color, yellow.

We were assigned to do a total of fifteen prints so that in the end we would have a good solid six prints.

Second stage of color, green. I was excited at this point to be able to see the original image I composed coming through in the wood print.

All my greens lined up!

Third stage of color violet red, beginning to see the background come forward.

Starting to become an actual piece of art...

All done! Final stage of color deep dark blue.

Some of my final pieces all lined up.

My sad little wood block after all the stages of color its been through. It is being stored in retirement.