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Lino-cut sunflower, part 2, and owl revisited
In my last post, I shared the carving of the 12 x 12 inch sunflower block, and a while ago the first attempt to print with the owl block (about 4×6 inches). Well, the Speedball water-based printing ink arrived. I only ordered one tube, copper metallic, to test it. Shoulda ordered more! It prints MUCH sharper, cleaner prints–I’ll put side by side of the owl in textile paint and ink below. But first…the sunflower…..Oooooh la la!
Here are the two prints I’ve made so far:
The one on the left is the first attempt. Since the copper color of the ink is about the same color as the linoleum, it is almost impossible to tell visually by color if you have enough ink. Clearly not. The second print on the right is much better. Oddly, thought the ink appears metallic in the tube, it doesn’t look metallic on the cloth. Still, I really like it.
I ADORE this block. I was thinking of cutting it apart into three sections: the center, the petals and the outside. But what if I mess it up? So I think I’ll keep this one as is, then carve another center and another ring of petals separately, so that I can print the block in different colors for each segment. My mind is already racing on how I can use this to create new cloth, made a t-shirt, and basically have a ball. Here are closeups, first of the too-pale version.
This one will make a good candidate for overprinting with a different stamp in darker ink. The darker print is much better, but I have to work on getting an unwrinkled “underneath”…I protected my padded surface with a plastic garbage bag that has fold marks in it, and they showwed up in the print:
In my earlier post about the owl, I mentioned that I didn’t care for the heaviness of the lines to the owl’s left:
So I removed some of the lines and tried printing again. On this one also I had the same issue with guessing how much was enough ink, the first one being too pale, the second and third better:
Here’s a closer view of one of the better prints:
There is a learning curve, but I am moving along it, and this is GOOD. And I can see having a lot of fun with this technique.
March 21st, 2010 at 8:09 am
Love your little owl… course, I’m an owl junkie…
March 21st, 2010 at 8:22 am
Ooh! I need that owl! How can I get a piece of fabric, preferably yellow, with that owl? My owl collection does not have a stamped on fabric one — commercial prints, yes; embroidered, yes; batik, yes; figurines in almost every thinkable medium (including plasticine) — but none stamped. This is a serious lack I hope you will agree. 🙂
March 21st, 2010 at 8:56 am
I love your sunflower. It is really amazing. I love that you used all the block rather than carving away major portions.
I am taking the lino-cutting course because I saw your work! I have taken a college course on relief printing but could not successfully transfer the technique to fabric. So, I am excited by this opportunity.
Another way to print multiple colors from one plate is to mask the part you don’t want to print. So, if you are only printing the center, you ink your plate and put a paper or plastic “mask” over the part you don’t want to print. I suppose you could put the mask on the paper/fabric but it is easier to put it on the plate because the ink/paint holds it exactly where you want it to be. A paper mask you can really only use once but a plastic mask you can wash and reuse. You would repeat this process for each color or part you want to print separately.
Oh, and by the way, I live in Belgrade ME.
March 21st, 2010 at 11:00 am
seems like the first print is almost always too light. I think the ink needs to build up a bit or something before it sticks to the plate well. I’ve noticed this with foam stamps, too. The first inking is always a test print.
March 21st, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Love your sunflower! I love this process. Made lots of lino prints years ago and I’m wanting to get back to it.
March 21st, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I love what you are doing here, Sarah. I have wanted to do this for ages, maybe I will with your good example.
Have you peeked at my blog yet? I just started one this year. http://www.laughingdogarts.blogspot.com
March 22nd, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Sarah—the sunflower is wonderful. And now you’ve shown me another technique that I didn’t know I wanted to learn! And coincidentally, our local Community Arts of Tecumseh is offering a class in April, so I may be taking a class…all your fault! And the sunflower……….aaaah!