I have a compilation of images from the past few weeks. I always know I need to update the blog when I am taking progress shots, but when I clean up my kitchen studio I forget. Why am I like this?
This is what I originally thought I was going to be doing.
Then I decided to change the shape of the background, because I wanted the red corals to jump off the pageant outside of the blue boundary. It is so hard to do this effect at home, and I felt like it turned out to be a mess. I was mad. But I think It will look better when the corals are on top.
On the left you can kind of see where I’m trying to go with this new idea, instead of everything being in the blue on the right. I was holding the coral on the left because the blue was still wet.
Oh by the way, this is what my house turns into every time I break out my printmaking supplies and set up my disastrous makeshift kitchen printshop. It is very stressful. Thank god I only live with my mom (and the cats) or else having a full family constantly coming in and out of the kitchen would be a nightmare. The mess I make every time would be fine, if it was in a studio, not in my kitchen at home.
This is my least favorite part. But honestly, the area where I roll the ink looks cooler than the actual prints I made. Also how cool are the shadows of the coral on the soft cut block I used? This is an awesome mono print idea to replicate those shadows….. I might have to try that.
I finally got the red color that I liked! But every time I went lighter it got too pink, and I don’t have anything other than white, black, or blue to change the tone/hue. I don’t like the pink, but maybe once I see it on the blue it will look better.
So now what am I working on? I am cutting out my prints an it is taking a long time, I narrowed it down to an hour a piece. I actually want to carve a few more little coral pieces out of my soft cut to layer on top, I think it will have much better depth that way. I am going to experiment with a dry sponge and apply light daps of white ink on top of the red, instead of making it pink to show the bleaching. I want to change up how I do the background because I am unhappy with it, but I am going to wait until I get everything else done first, because I might actually feel satisfied, but probably not.
Also I was in Savannah touring SCAD, and I met this artist Phil Musen @cutetomatoes (IG) in Forsyth park, and I am so for his art style. I love the cats eating hot dogs. Also there are raccoons at the bar scene behind the cats. Also also! I found this fake!!! coral at a furniture store and it reminded me a lot of the coral I designed for my print.
