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Archive for the ‘Classes I’ve taken’ Category

Lino-Cut: Leaf and bud blocks

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

The next exercise in Dijanne Cevaal’s lino-cutting class (link to her blog in the Reading category in the left sidebar) was to create positive and negative images using the same basic drawing.  I created two 4 1/2 x 9 inch blocks (about 10 cm by 22 cm):

For the exercise, we were to leave the background of the negative block untouched.  I think now that the exercise is done, I’ll carve something interesting into parts of the the large flat spaces in this one.

I did my first prints in a combination of metallic and Jacquard textile paint onto a length of my hand-dyed fabric:

I then used the turquoise-teal paint that I liked so much from the 12×12 print:

These prints I really liked!  So much so, that I decided to make two quick art quilts, one of which is being donated to the FiberArt For A Cause (FFAC) fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society (which in turn supports cancer research).  My dad had and survived throat cancer, my half-brother and a dear friend died of different cancers, and dad and my husband have had skin cancer(s), and my mom may (?) have colon cancer (if she does, it is VERY slow moving–she wouldn’t do the tests to confirm or rule out, and the doctor diagnosed her over two years ago, so I’m thinking she doesn’t, but we just don’t know).  So… I am happy to once again support the FFAC.  Go here to learn more.

I’ll share the quilts in the next post!

Lino-Cut art quilts: the 12×12 block

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

A few days (week?) ago, I shared with you some of my first attempts at lino-cuts, here.  I then did the first exercises for the class. To become familiar with the techniques, Dijanne Cevaal (our teacher, blog here and is in the links on the left) has us do a nine-patch sampler of marks.  Of course I didn’t make mine quite like the sample, but you get the idea:

And an angled view that gives you an idea of the depth of the cuts.  For this one, I used the Golden-Cut linoleum from Dick Blick (link below).

One of the best suggestions / new to me, was to use a pale color of paint/ink for printing to create good background texture, then print over it with another lino-cut.  The pale background print adds subtle but effective movement to the print.  Here is my pale print (which I will over print, at least part of it, later on):

The trick with this 12 x 12 inch block is to get it all inked up without having the paint dry.  I have been using the textile paints I had on hand:  Jacquard Textile paint,  Setacolor transparents and Lumiere (a metallic).  For my second print, I used a pewter metallic Lumiere.  You can see pale spots where I didn’t get it inked up quite as well as I should have.

The third attempt was with some Jacquard Textile Paint.  Usually, I’m not as wild about this paint as it is thick and opaque,  so when painting or doing some stamping with it, it obscures the print of the cloth underneath (I like to shade the fabric usually, but not hide it).  However, this paint worked the best for this technique.  I REALLY like the way this one turned out.  I’ve ordered more of the Jacquard and some of the water-soluble Speedball inks that are for use on textiles to see how they handle, too.   Stay tuned for tests with those (the box should be here in a few days–ordered from Dick Blick, an online art supply store in the US).

Next, I’ll share some leaf / bud carvings and prints.