That Awkward Stage

So, now the print enters the awkward stage. You start gambling on colors, maybe start improvising here and there. The only thing to guide you at this point is the vision you have in your mind, the one that got you started down this road in the first place.

I particularly hate printing light colors over dark colors. Although this state completes the form of the trailer, the details of the woods around it are only hinted at. As I mentioned in the last post, I knew that the yellow going over the turquoise would present special challenges.

However, I added red to the yellow ink (which has a naturally green cast). The extra red helped curb the color's tendency to blend with the turquoise and make a lime green. The result is a gold that I think will blend well with the oranges and reds to come. I hemmed and hawed about printing another yellow, but I think the gold will serve the autumnal feel well.

Every print I've done has had this awkward stage, and I've learned to just push through it. I know I'll be rewarded if I stop fretting about it and concentrate on carving and printing the next colors.

Five colors to go!

Taking Shape

This is my favorite point in a print -- when you really get to see what's forming. My prints are produced using the "reduction method," whereby a block is cut and printed over and over until the print is complete (and the block is destroyed). There's no way to know what a print will really look like until it's done. All you have is a drawing, and an idea.

I'm excited to be moving into the warmer colors now, as I turn the scene from icy blue into the warm brilliance of autumn. There are six more colors on this print left to go.

I am a little nervouse printing such a dark color before launching into the brighter colors. I've lost a lot of prints to mismanaged colors, I'm hoping my day job as a color and ink technician can keep me out of the abyss. Stay tuned!

A little closer now....

Okay, here we are on state #4. It should be crystal clear to all you playing the game. Just a couple more colors to go. What's the name of this classic Labatt's beer truck?

(HINT: "Classic Labatt's Beer Truck is NOT the answer)

A little info for the print geeks -- this is a reduction print with planned 7 colors on a single 6"x4" block of birch plywood, Renaissance Graphics oil-based ink on very heavy (too heavy) Rives off-white paper. The script for the logo was made using my wife's engraving pen which she uses for her glass work. And yes, I got permission to use it!