Here is the third, finished book to submit it to Ritual. The entire sheet of paper is 11" x 17" making each page when folded 4.25" x 5.5". Each printed image is 3" x 4". They are all white line woodcuts which means the lines were carved in a wood block and then each raised shape was painted with watercolors. I printed each by spritzing the entire painted block with water and then rubbing it onto the paper with a wooden spoon. It took approximately 10 hours to draw and carve all eight images, and another 3 and a half hours to print a single book.
The first photo here is the front and back covers. Next are the following three double-page spreads. And the last photograph is of the entire single sheet of paper unfolded.
The subject for this book is in fact my four pet cats, Aubrey, Horatio, Sasquatch, and Kubaba, and all of the drawings are from photographs I took of them around the house.
Together, apart...
begging, glaring...
peeking, crouching.
This is a proof of the back cover of the third and final single sheet book I plan to submit it to the exhibition Ritual. The image is 3" x 4" and a white line woodcut. This means that the lines are carved out of the block and then I paint in all the raised areas with watercolors. (The second photo is of the block after I printed from it.) Traditionally white line woodcuts are printed shape by shape. But that process is impractical for the printing of this book, so I'm trying another method which I read about on this post of printmaker Viza Arlington's blog. It involves painting the whole block first and letting it dry, then spraying it with a mist of water to reconstitute the paint for printing. Arlington used a press in her post (she was doing a large edition for a fundraiser), but since I'm only doing one-offs and small editions and I don't have a press in my studio, I'm using wooden spoons and elbow grease to print these kitties.
I finished the second of three single-sheet, 8-page books which I plan to submit it to the exhibition Ritual.
The whole sheet of paper measures 11" x 15", so when it is folded each page measures 3.75" x 5.5". It is printed on 120 lb watercolor paper. Each image is printed from a carved wood block with oil-based black ink and then hand colored with watercolors (see below for what it looks like before being colored.) It took me 2 hours to print 2 books and another 2 hours to hand paint one of those books.
In My Yard is also for sale on my Etsy store for $75. (Same price it will be at the exhibit.)
Woodcut
Black ink with hand coloring with watercolors
3" x 4" (image)
For sale here.
This is the seventh in a series for a single sheet handmade book called In My Yard. This book will be submitted to the exhibition Ritual taking place in December in Philadelphia.
My four-year-old daughter stopped to point out a little ladybug on a pumpkin on our porch this past October. I love the combination of the warm colors of autumn in this image. Again I played with the scale a bit to make it work, increasing the size of the ladybug. This will be the cover for the book; I deliberately left room at the bottom for the title.
Woodcut
Black ink with hand coloring with watercolors
3" x 4" (image)
For sale here.
This is the seventh in a series for a single sheet handmade book called In My Yard. This book will be submitted to the exhibition Ritual taking place in December in Philadelphia.
Nobody seems to get all that excited about these butterflies, I suppose because they are everywhere (at least in Philadelphia) and just plain white. But they are lovely, especially when they land on a brightly-colored flower that sets off their delicate, white wings.
Woodcut
Black ink with hand coloring with watercolors
3" x 4" (image)
For sale here.
This is the sixth in a series for a single sheet handmade book called In My Yard. This book will be submitted to the exhibition Ritual taking place in December in Philadelphia.
I love the bees that the flowers in my garden attract. In addition to helping pollination, they keep the riffraff away.
Woodcut
Black ink with hand coloring with watercolors
3" x 4" (image)
For sale here.
This is the fifth in a series for a single sheet handmade book called In My Yard. This book will be submitted to the exhibition Ritual taking place in December in Philadelphia.
This is my second print of one of the painted lady butterflies that graced our garden all summer long. (Here's the first.) I like the more dramatic, sunburst composition and bright color of this one. I played with the scale a bit and made the butterfly a little bigger relative to the flower, and I enjoy how its placement in the center makes it almost seem as if the flower pedals are an extension of the butterfly's body
Woodcut
Black ink with hand coloring with watercolors
3" x 4" (image)
For sale here.
This is the fourth in a series for a single sheet handmade book called In My Yard. This book will be submitted to the exhibition Ritual taking place in December in Philadelphia.
We find leopard slugs all over our neighborhood. These slugs are really quite pretty (you know, for slugs). But they are an invasive species in this part of the country, so at one of the nature centers we go to we enjoy catching them and feeding them to the turtles.
Woodcut
Black ink with hand coloring with watercolors
3" x 4" (image)
For sale here.
This is the third in a series for a single sheet handmade book called In My Yard. This book will be submitted to the exhibition Ritual taking place in December in Philadelphia.
The first summer after we bought our current home I planted a forest of sunflowers in the front yard (see below photo.) I wanted to make my mark on the block. The result was that finches who resided in the large tree across the street began regularly feeding on the sunflower seeds. It was delightful to hang out on my front porch and watch these brightly-colored birds (American goldfinches turn yellow during the summer) fly back and forth and nimbly perch on the thick stems of my ten foot high flower garden.
I finished the first of three single-sheet, 8-page books which I plan to submit it to the exhibition Ritual taking place in December in Philadelphia. I have some from this limited edition of only 6 for sale also on my Etsy Store, click here. I'm definitely going to keep one with the idea that I might scan it in the future and make high quality reproductions which could be sold much cheaper.
The whole sheet of paper measures 10" x 17", so when it is folded each page measures 4.25" x 5". It is printed on white Subi paper. The images are created entirely of hand-carved, hand-printed woodblock prints. The whole thing took about 32 hours of work over 9 days.
Front Cover
Pages 2 and 3
Pages 4 and 5
Pages 6 and 7
Back Cover
This is a little 4" x 4" color woodcut I made using four blocks. My intention is to make a small book with 6 different versions (using the same blocks but different colors) and submit it to the exhibition Ritual taking place in December in Philadelphia. I printed this proof so I could get a better sense of what I have and can decide what colors I should use for the 6 different versions. The title is because this is meant to depict a little screech owl named "Scarlett" who was rescued (she is blind in one eye) and is kept and used for educational shows at the Briar Bush Nature Center.
