"Here's To You" - variation #2

Once again the opportunity to start with a basic relief print and hand color it to be different from it predecessors was too good to pass up!!

Isn't it interesting how the variation in the tabletop makes the entire image look different.  Notice the tabletop variation below - also creates a different effect!

I think this one look more tropical and summery.  What would you say about the variation below - notice, first, the tabletop difference in color......

"Here's to You....!"

I started my "Here's To You!" series with my favorite bar beverage - The Bloody Mary.  Since printing and framing the final hand-colored relief print AND the giclee card versions, I have had a request to get the series finished with other favorite beverages, such as Scotch on the Rocks.

"Here's to You!"  relief block inked with Ranger black ink. 

When meeting some friends just recently for a visit, I ordered a Bloody Mary and was delighted by the skewered stack of munch-ables poking out of the glass.  On a massive barbeque skewer was a green olive with red pimento (OK, that one is traditional,) a green hot pepper (a whole one,) a wedge of sausage, a block (yep....block about 1" x 1" x 1") of cheddar cheese and a quarter of a kosher dill pickle!  Slow crunching with all of that sodium, but......yummmmmm for the hardy stomach!!!!!!!  I sure couldn't do that very often, but it was great fun while we caught up during our visit!

Here's to You - relief proof #1 - Black Ranger ink on Strathmore 200 series printmaker paper.

Beach Babes - 2

When I first carved and printed Beach Babes #1, it was for the front of a card to a beach-loving friend.  So, not only was there the cover image, but the inside image, to share the sentiment.......

Beach Babe #2 relief block, carved and inked with Daniel Smith black relief ink

In the carving above, you can see this third "babe," (remember, the first image really had TWO beach babes,) also has on her bathing cap and is standing among the most desirable shells on the shoreline! 

Remembering that the carved surfaced is the mirror image of the final printed image, the two primary figures in this pair of blocks are meant to face each other and suggest the possibility of an ongoing conversation.  It was fun to draw in caption balloons in both when these were used for a card.......that is part of the fun of relief printing, each print can use the same block, but be completed in a very different way.....gouache, pencil, paint, ink, captioned, blank, etc., and with different captions or subtitles.  Of course, that also means that every new print is individually printed, hand painted, and individually captioned.......That is why these types of prints may be entered as originals in most juried art shows. 

Beach Babes - continued #3

I also wanted to try adding color to the line relief print with a different medium, so I tried Inktense pencils activated with water.  Here, again, there are also pros and cons!

Beach Babes relief print - Black inked with Speedball relief ink and colored with  Derwent Inktense pencils activated with water.

The amount of water needed to move the color around from the Inktense pencils seemed to active the Speedball water soluble ink if the bristles of the water brush lingered too long.  (This is one of the reasons why I am continuing my search for a relief ink that is permanent once dry.)

Beach Babes - Speedball water soluble ink with Derwent Inktense pencils activated with water

This is one of those images that I stopped working on because I was dissatified with the mobility of the Speedball ink.  I am not sure if I would chalk that up to a printing ink problem or a color-adding problem or-BOTH!  Where the colors are clear, I like this intensity better; if I were going to continue to push this image, I would re-ink it with the Daniel Smith black and try painting with diluted acrylic ink......

Beach Babes - continued 2

The first time I decided to add color to this print, I used gouache - which has pros and cons.  

Beach Babes relief print with gouache added for color.

One of the pros of gouache is it's unstable quality - if you touch it with wet or gouache again, it is activated again....and again.....and again.  Of course, this is also one of the cons......because it reactivates, I find it is very easy to turn everything muddy and/or gray.  The image below is simply additional work on the image above....

Beach Babes #1 relief print with several layers of gouache paint.

As you can see, it is grayer and muddier, BUT has much more depth with the addition of a darker sky and shadows, shadows, shadows.......  I am not sure that I would enjoy gouache as my primary medium, but it is fun to experiment with and it cleans up easily.

I do wonder how those that work with gouache as their primary medium preserve their work; it must always have to be under glass or run the risk of changing with humidity and moisture in the air.....or a stray blast of water (or tomato juice like in the insurance commercial....)  I have now included this image on a card, but deliberately make it into a giclee print so that it can not be reactivated by moisture, humidity, water, etc. wet elements.

The gouache paint I use comes in tube form, which means it starts wet - I do not have to mix it with water or a gouache medium to start painting.  This is a nice pro.  If it completely dried out, it can easily be activated by adding a little water, which makes it nicely suited for painting on-site. 

I have seen several variations of painter-made, portable gouache boxes designed just for mobility.  In most cases, a small tin box, such as a Sucrets or Altoids box, is lined with white polymer clay.  In six or eight places, the artist has pressed in the eraser end of a pencil, to create a depression for holding paint.  Once the box is headed in the oven (as specified by the clay manufacturer to harden the polymer,) the palette is travel-ready.  Some artists line the top half of the box with additional white polymer prior to baking, keeping it as smooth as possible, and use this area for mixing.

Each depression, when dried and cooled, is ready for a squeeze of gouache paint from the tube.  It's easy to toss one of these portable boxes and a filled water-brush into a pocket or even a small purse for spontaneous gouache painting.....a small tablet of watercolor paper is helpful if the artist is headed to an area that may be paper-free.

I know you are now thinking, "....watercolor paint does the same things and comes pre-boxed......"  Right?  Here's an additional "pro" of gouache paints - they are very opaque, unlike most watercolor sets.   Most of the time, they will even cover black India ink - although this intense dark sometimes takes two coats, depending on the paper being used.  With gouache, you can do a quick pencil, or even ink sketch, and paint right over it without the pencil or ink showing through....gouache allows the finished product to look much more spontaneous than it may be.......if that matters to the artist or viewer.......

Beach Babes

One of the things I love about Florida is that people of all ages visit the beaches almost every day.  It is a great place to get some exercise, swim, visit if you are interested, soak up some vitamin D and collect beach-specific treasures, like shells.  On one of our early vacations to Florida, when the boys were quite young, they made it clear that they preferred beach time to all other activities we explored, including Disney World!  We learned very quickly that there were certain beach behaviors that were seen with much greater frequency around Sanibel than elsewhere - specifically, "The Sanibel Stoop!"

The block print below includes one of several images I have created over the years to document "the Stoop..."

Beach Babes relief print - Proof print #1.  Daniel Smith black relief ink on Strathmore 300 series printmaker's paper.  

One of the things that dates this image to the first time I traveled to Florida is the bathing cap.  Right after I turned 3, my mother and I made a road trip to Florida to visit a couple of friends from her college days.   I remember walking the shoreline with them in Sarasota and learning how to recognize AND avoid stepping on stingrays.  As soon as they arrived at the shoreline, on went the dome, white bathing caps with dangling chin strap with large metal snap at the very end.

Beach Babes #1 relief block - Speedball softcut inked with Daniel Smith black relief ink.

As you can see in the carved block, I just couldn't (or didn't) include that in my image.   I was going to share that the overall image includes PAST and PRESENT, but I think it would be more accurate to say, to includes traditional images from the mid-Florida Gulf Coast and the barrier islands of the Gulf Coast...as you can see in the background, there is a classic posture of the "Sanibel Stoop."

I think this phrase was specific to Sanibel because of their reputation for fabulous sea shells.  Although the recent beach reclamation initiatives AND the Gulf oil spills have put a damper on the abundance of shells ( in my opinion,) there are still plenty to be found for the dedicated, and persistent sheller! 

Your Turn.......

How would you caption these two...and......who would you send them to?

Adult flamingo - Color exploration relief print - Black Ranger ink with FW acrylic inks on 400 series Strathmore printmaking paper. 

A luscious purple......

Flamingo duo - Color exploration relief print - Black Ranger ink with FW acrylic inks on Strathmore 400 series printmaking paper.