Cabbage Hands, a reduction print in progress

Cabbage Hands in Yellow

Linoleum block print -- two blocks, four colors

8" X 10"

2016

Here's how I did it:

First I carved out all the white areas -- background, cabbage veins, fingernails. 

Then I printed flesh color.

I decided I wanted the option of printing a colored background, so I had to carve a new block for that as I'd already carved out the background on the first block. I printed the background in four colors -- yellow, blue, green, and silver. 

Then I carved out the hands on the first block and printed purple.

I decided that the purple was too dark so I reprinted it in a lighter color.  

Finally I printed the black key block.

This is just the black key block.

Cabbage Hands in Blue

Linoleum block print -- two blocks, four colors

8" X 10"

2016

Cabbage Hands in Silver

Linoleum block print -- two blocks, two colors

8" X 10"

2016

Cabbage Hands in White

Linoleum block print -- one block, three colors

8" X 10"

2016

BTW, that's Tom's home-grown cabbage and, of course, his hands!

Twisted Carrots

Twisted Carrots

Reduction Linoleum Block Print

One block: five colors

4" X 6" 

2016

Tom has decided he likes vegetable art for a change, so I carved this lino-block print for him for our 33rd wedding anniversary. Yes, he grew the twisted carrots! 

I'm fascinated with reduction prints because they're such brutal brain teasers. One block. Five colors. Multiple printings. Painstaking registery. I just wonder when I'll ever get the hang of it!

Three Jack Russells

Seamus

Rough-coated Jack Russell terrier

4" X 6" colored pen-and-ink

2016

Otis

Smooth-coated Jack Russell terrier

4" X 6" colored pen-and-ink

2016

Lucy

Broken-coated Jack Russell terrier

4" X 6" colored pen-and-ink

2016

Three Terrier Triptych

These are the first PenPets portraits I've drawn in our new town (Belfast, Maine), in my new backyard studio, in a new size (4" X 6"). They're perfect examples of the different coats Jack Russells come in -- rough, smooth, and broken.

More Linocuts

Burro

Linocut 4" X 6"

2015

Greener Grass

Linocut4" X 6"

One block: black, brown, yellow, green, tan

2015

Pig

Linocut 4" X 6"

2015

Dr. Smith

Dr. Smith

linoleum-block print

4" X 6"

2015

I'm financing my shed studio with a small inheritance from my father, and I want to feel his presence in my new space. So I carved this linoleum block to print and hang there -- "Dr. Smith." I'm sure Dad will be pleased to see me working under his watchful and sardonic eyes.

Two Kids

I've gone back to linoleum block print-making and am working with a group in Waldoboro, Maine, lead by Holly Berry. We meet on Mondays a couple times a month. It's great to be working together with other artists. I learn so much from all of them. And I have a lot to learn!

This is my first renewed attempt at a reduction print. I carved the whole thing on one linoleum block and printed each color, one after the other -- first white, then pink, then green, then brown, finally black. As you can see by the pink halo around the kid's head, my registration was off. It got worse as I went along. Alas! There are no do-overs in reduction prints. It's a one-shot deal. But I was able to salvage the last block -- the black one, referred to as a key block. So I carved three more blocks -- one for the pink nose, one for the green background, and one for the brown spots -- and printed them in that order. This is what I ended up with, sans bubbles. 

Kid

multi-block linoleum print

4"X6"

2015

I'm eager to start another print -- maybe even a reduction print! -- and do a better job.

Randy

Randy

a Poodle

5" X 7" colored pen-and-ink

2015