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.
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.
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