My Creative Process

I realized the other day when K asked me what exactly I was doing when I said I was going to make a block print that unless you had an epic high school art program or were an art major in college you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.  Everyone has a different creative process, here is a little peak into mine...

First I have an idea, I know, duh you need an idea, but mine usually come to me while trying to fall asleep or driving, both are problematic for writing things down so I have to bank on my fabulous memory, or grab the pen out of my purse and hope for a red light so I can quickly scribble something that  vaguely resembles the english language, that I will then jog my memory to the idea I had.  When I remember an idea I had or can make out the less than ledgable srawl on the back of a Nordstrom reciept I write it down is an ledgable manor and in the format or style I might want it, usually on a sticky note or in my sketchbook

I then, write it out or sketch it out a couple different ways, more if the idea is vague and maybe only once or twice if I already had an idea of what exactly I want the final product to look like.  After the sketches, I pick the one I want and make the final version.  In this case, I had to measure the surface area I had to work with, measure out eaqual spacing for the letters, equal borders, letter thickness, etc. In this pic you can see the sketches from my idea and the final version with the spacing lines.

After I have the final version just right, I trace in onto a piece of tracing paper, maing sure to use a dull-ish pencil and to go over the lines a couple of times so there is a layer of graphite from the pencil.  After my image is on the tracing paper, I flip it over, graphite side down and place it onto the linolium. I use my lovely acrylic nails to rub the image onto the block, but most people use a spoon or something of that nature.  The vola! the image is on the block... for you linear thinkers and rocket scientists out there, yes the image is backwards, but when you print it on paper, it will print the proper way. 

After the image is on, I take a nifty block print carving tool and cut away everything I want to be white, or not inked on the block.  A finished block looks like this:

Finally you roll ink over it, I got tricky and put a little piece of paper over the heart, inked the block black, removed the paper and inked the heard red with a tiny brayer (brayer is a rolly thing that you use to spread ink onto a block), put a piece of paper, card, postcard, etc. on top, use a wooden spoon to press it down, and you get a fabulous looking print.  For those that don't know, yes it is supposed to be uneven, it gives it character and the homemade feel : )

 

For the record, this was inspired by One Way street sign that the Princess pointed out to me on her visit to the apartment with her baby, the Duke :)



Well that's all for now, more to come!

Ta ta loves!