Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Reduction Printing this WOYWW!

Here's what I've been up to.....turning this into.....

IMG_1357THIS................

IMG_1355I've mentioned, a time or two, how much I enjoy carving my own stamps.  An article in the current issue of Cloth Paper Scissors caught my eye....using the same materials used for stamp carving, one could do something called "reduction printing".  Well, this looks like fun, I thought.

I did take the authors advice and start with a simpler, geometric design and then moved on to carving the cat into the soft Speedball product called Speedy Cut. 

I drew the cat on a piece of paper, drew back over it to put down a good coat of graphite....laid the drawing on the material I was going to carve, and rubbed enough to transfer the drawing to the rubber.

I, also, decided to cut the block of printing plate material in half, so I made a few changes in the drawing to adjust.  The finished size is only 2 1/2 x 3 inches.

Then I carved the image into the soft rubber....this is plate #1.

IMG_1342

Just for your reference, below is what the plate looked like by the time I was ready to put down the third, and final, layer of paint.  You can see how much material was removed to achieve the final results.

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  First, I covered the carved image with yellow acrylic paint and then printed them onto nine pieces of paper I had cut to fit, layer #1.

IMG_1345O.K., here's where it gets tricky....this is like watercolor, you must paint from light to dark but before you can put the next color on, you need to remove the parts of the stamp/plate where you want to preserve the lightest color.

When you are satisfied that you have removed the right amount of the stamp, you print the medium value.  In my case, I mixed yellow ocher with a little cad red to make a rust. 

Before, I stamped over the yellow paint (the first impression) I made a trial run.  I stamped on a scrap of paper using dye ink to see how this stamp/plate was going to look.

IMG_1344

 

It is a little hard to see here but the top practice stamp was my first layer, here I stamped it in red but on the "real" product it is the yellow above.

The artist who wrote this article, Lisa Thorpe, prints the first layer a solid color but I like the white of the paper showing for this one.

 

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The second layer is the red stamp on the top right.  You can see where I have removed material from the cat and the floor.

The green stamp on the top right is the final trim.  More material was removed from the cat, the window and the floor.

Bottom left is the final layer stamped over the second and the first!  Whew, got all that?

IMG_1348 I did use a brayer to ink the stamp/plate each time before I stamped.

IMG_1354Not every print turned out as well as I would have hoped but I learned a lot!  I'm ready to try again.  Oh, yes, the final color I used was violet....it made a delicious dark.

This was the first geometric design I tried......now, I have two practice runs under my belt. 

IMG_1350

The finished print is about half the size of this photo but it still a very strong piece.  

These would be great for cards, tags or to collage to a piece OR to mount and frame!  Plus, in most cases, you can still use the finished stamp/plate as a stamp on other projects.

This is what is on my workdesk this Wednesday......to see what fun things other artists are doing go to Julia's What's on your workdesk Wednesday and a new to me fun blog party for "copy cats", love it, Debbie Doos Magazine Copy Cat Challenge

28 comments:

Debbiedoos said...

That is simply amazing! Not to mention the talent you have. I could nor would ever even attempt this kind of Art! This was a great copy CAT, literally. Thanks for joining in on the fun. Enjoy!

refresh reStyle said...

You are amazing, me copying a magazine is nothing compared to this art! Great job.
Debbie

Terra said...

I like the cat and the saxophone, and the cat and the bird's nest very much. This is a wonderful talent you have.

Linda @ A La Carte said...

This is more then WOW...really beautiful carving and such talent. Thank you for sharing with us.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Very impressive stamp. I have seen that reduction technique a few times, including the CPS article. I want to find linoleum for a larger stamp, since all I have are tiny erasers I got at the Dollar store. Your stamp is very impressive. If I went to all that trouble, I would have trouble cutting the original stamp apart. But kudos to you for doing this. I know it looks like fun!

Karen said...

Oh, now this is a technique I am going to have to study so I can learn how to do this! What a wonderful stamp and fun technique. I also read your post on your organized work station, I'm so jealous! You should see the mess I have in my basement (no, you shouldn't, it's a travesty).

Sarah said...

So beautiful - I love the cat - so pure and serene. fantastic work and so original. Loving the simple and detailed images!
Thanks for sharing today! Sarah (at 2)

Sandy said...

OMG what a impressive stamp and the work with it rock. Love them all.

Happy WOYWW. Sandy #1

Lunch Lady Jan said...

Great print! I am full of admiration because I know I'd never have the skill/patience to achieve something like that. Well done you, it really is fab :) xxxx

Anonymous said...

Just amazing! I have nothing else to say! Have a happy Wednesday! Mel #51

Šolanje na domu-Waldorf said...

This is absolutely fabulous! :) And a lot of work. Thanks for sharing the process. :)

elle said...

Thanks so much for taking time to share this tutorial. A picture is worth...

Anonymous said...

That's a lovely technique and even your practice pieces look so good.

Hugs
Brenda 88

Sunshine Girl said...

Wow that is really good.

shazsilverwolf said...

This is such an inspirational piece! Truly great artwork. Thanks for sharing, Happy WOYWW, Shaz

JoZart Designs said...

What a great success your experiments proved to be. Fab end result!
JoZarty x

Angie said...

You are inspiring ...what an amazing final result ..a touch of Andy Warhol as the print deveolped

teri said...

I found your blog post (and your blog) very interesting. I have tried reduction printing only once and didn't anticipate well the parts I needed to remove before reprinting. I think I need to give it a go again.

Julie said...

This is just amazing!!! What grand fun! It scares me to try it...you are very bold...and just forge ahead...excellent work!!!
xoxo- Julie

Carin Winkelman said...

Wow! That is just fantastic. Great job with all the cat printing ;-)

Arlene said...

What a great job with the reduction printing. I saw that article in CPS too, and also LOVE carving stamps, so have set that on my "to do" pile. This inspires me to actually take it off the back burner and just do it. You made it look fun and interesting. Thanks for the post and looking forward to seeing you around the Blissfully group!

SueH said...

Oh wow, that looks amazing….and all your own work too but does it mean that you can only do the process once with each stamp or have I got it totally wrong?

I really love the cat image and the colours that you’ve used, it’s beautiful……..clever you!

Happy Crafting!
Sue
x

Sue
x

Unknown said...

I found your blog on Blissfully Art Journaling! Great work on your cat print....really enjoyed visiting here!

Julia Dunnit said...

This is marvellous - I cannot get my head around it when I try it..I need no sound, no interruption and it makes me hold my breath!! Your post really concisely explained and illustrated the process...and you ended up with a fabulous image, go you!

Elizabeth said...

Just a quick visit this week due to illness but hope to do better next week ... thanks for sharing your amazing technique - very complex but the cat is fab. I hope you have a great weekend. Elizabeth x #121

Jovita @ Inky Impressions said...

Such a long process but the end result is absolutely beautiful, thank you for sharing the process it was very insightful.

Hugs, Jovi #114

okienurse said...

OMG! SO much work but awesome! Sorry I am so late getting by this week but I wanted to pop by and visit your blog to say hello and to see what you are up to! Didn't have the time to post(except about newest Doswell addition) or craft the past two weeks due to being in Virginia visiting with the son's family to see the newest granddaughter born. Definitely a fun time none the less. Hope you have a great week. Vickie aka okienurse

Tertia said...

This is so fantastic! Looks very complicated to me though.
Happy very belated WOYWW