Think Digital/Act Analog; Carving the Block

In my recent posts, I've been detailing the evolution of a design from the initial idea to a finished print, using my current project Think Digital/Act Analog to demonstrate. In my last post I shared my process for transferring a design from paper to linoleum. I also said in the last post that I probably wouldn't get a chance to finish carving the block until after the holidays. As it turns out, I was mistaken. In an awesome way.

I started carving on the "digital" side of the block. Retaining a steady hand while carving the small, straight, and somewhat repetitive lines was slow, but nothing too difficult. The lettering proved to be a little harder, but slowly it started to take shape. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of the lettering while I was carving it.

Here's a view from above after I've darkened the lino to make it easier to see the contrast. I do this often, because it allows me to see where I've already cut. 

The entire background of this half of the block required carving, which wasn't difficult at all however it was time consuming. 

On the other half of the print, carving the text was a piece of cake! Since the background on that side is black, there was no need to outline the letters; instead, I could just slowly excise them so that they won't transfer any ink when I finally get around to pulling prints. 

So far Think Digital/Act Analog has provided me with some minor challenges, but nothing that I couldn't handle. The real test of my ability was carving out the brain.

There was a lot of lino to cut, and a lot of small detail lines to add the appearance of texture and shading. I haven't really done anything like that before, so I needed to move slowly and learn as I worked. This made me a bit anxious; I understand that every design is a learning process, and that even if it doesn't end up looking right it is good experience and improves my skills. That being said, it isn't the best feeling in the world when you spend hours carving on a block and then don't have a good print to show in the end. To avoid that kind of disappointment, I worked very methodically.

It's always important to keep your tools sharp as you work, so I periodically run them along a strop. I prefer using a strop rather than a whetstone on my carving tools, because as far as I'm aware the leather can't change the angle of the blade whereas a whetstone can. My strop is just a simple piece of wood with a rough bit of leather on one side, and a smooth bit of leather on the other side. I suppose it does have a fairly nice handle though. I picked it up on amazon, as well as a little polishing paste to use with it, for probably ten bucks total. It has made a world of difference since I started using it; sharp blades do a lot better than the alternative. This was incredibly advantageous on this project; on the "analog" side there were a lot of curves and fine lines, and I have no doubt that if I had tried to carve them with dull tools, I would have done an incredibly poor job. Instead, I felt like I was doing a pretty damn good.

As I finished up, things really started to come together, and my anxieties subsided. It was looking more and more like what I had in mind when I first imagined the design. Which, of course, pleased me to no end!

And like that, the block is done! It looks pretty great and I'm very happy about how it turned out. I can't wait until I have the opportunity to pull some test prints and see how they look. I'm sure that there will be some adjustments and some fine-tuning necessary, but I'm very pleased with how it has worked out so far!

I realize that this post was very photo-heavy. There just isn't too much to explain about the carving process; a lot of it is repetitive, and unless you want details on what particular gouge I use for different cuts, I figured that you would rather see the results than hear about why I like certain gouges for certain shapes and cuts. If you're interested in more details, however, I'm happy to share them!

I will, of course, keep you posted when I pull some test prints. If you've stuck with me this far, I encourage you to check back to see when I get the next post up detailing the next step in the Think Digital/Act Analog adventure. And since it's time to start with the actual printing, it's when we'll see the whole design really emerge as it's meant to be!

Thanks for stopping in and reading. I appreciate everyone who comes and checks out my projects. If you have any questions, I'd love to answer them, so hit me up on the comments. Also, if you're interested in getting any updates on when new posts are coming out, or if you'd like to read the randomness that is my life via 140 characters or less, follow me on Twitter: @CaptGam

Unless otherwise noted, all work by Wade Ellett is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

From Drawing to Block

It seems like it's been forever since I got a post up, but life has been busy. So it has taken me a little while to get rolling on Think Digital/Act Analog. But here we are now, so let's talk about printmaking! More specifically, let's revisit the design.

Now as you may remember, this image evolved from a quick doodle, to a better sketch, and then an even more refined one. Today, I'm going to show you what happens next. First thing first, I need to clean up the typeset. The "analog" style type works fine for me, but I've been having trouble finding a typeset that captures the "digital" aesthetic. After a little more playing, tracing on grid paper, transferring back and forth (forever), so on and so forth, I finally get something that fits the look I'm going for...

It's clean, and has the right look and feel to it without looking (too) campy. So with the design pretty well cemented, it's time to get the design onto the block. How do we do this? There are a number of techniques printmakers use, but the technique I use most often and the one that I'm going to show you today is using a transfer sheet. 

I start by taping the design down and then taping a sheet of tracing paper down on top of it. I like to make sure everything is secure so there isn't any slipping or moving around.

Once the design and the tracing paper are snug and secure, I start tracing over the design with a soft graphite pencil. This can be pretty time consuming, especially when there are a lot of fine lines or intricate details in the design. 

After the somewhat laborious task of tracing is done, it's time to actually transfer the design to a block. This means turning the tracing paper over, lining it up on the block and securing it down again, like so...

Now it's time to transfer the design to a block. It's simply a matter of tracing over the lines again. Since I'm pressing on the backside of the paper, the soft graphite I initially traced with will print onto the block as I retrace the lines.

The retracing takes a little time as well, but after it's done, we're just about finished with the transfer. To make sure that I don't ruin the design on the block while carving it, I go over the lines with a fine permanent marker. After a few minutes time to let it dry, the block is ready for carving. 

You can see that in the bottom right corner I have excised a star out of the block already. It's a little reminder of how I want to carve the block; from that little star I can extrapolate what areas I decided to carve, and what areas I want to leave uncut. The image is in reverse because, as you probably remember, the block will serve as a negative to the print. So everything is backwards on the block, but it will come out right as rain when we pull the prints!

So now the block is ready to carve! Unfortunately, I don't know that I'll have enough time to get it all carved before I start my holiday travelling. If I can, I'll be sure to let you know. Either way, I'll keep you posted. Thanks for reading and if you'd like updates on when new posts are coming out, or if you'd just like to experience the art project that is my life via random bursts of information overload in 140 characters or less, follow me on Twitter: @CaptGam

Keep your eyes peeled for the next update, and don't hesitate to hit me up on the comments!

Unless otherwise noted, all work by Wade Ellett is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.