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Upcoming Patreon Chibies - part 1
Posted by Dave Bull on April 8, 2018 [Permalink]
The clock is ticking faster every day, and among the ever-growing group of deadlines that are rushing towards me is the 1st anniversary of the start of our Patreon 'campaign' last year.
I very much need to pay attention to this - not just for sentimental reasons to acknowledge the beginning - but for important practical reasons ... I need to make more prints for the gifts to send out to the Patreons!
One of the participation levels of the campaign (information here, by the way), is the 'Chibi Supporter', and we have promised to send two small prints each year to supporters at this level. Last year we commissioned two designs from my friend John Amoss, and everybody was so pleased with the two prints, that we have asked him for another pair this year. According to our Patreon schedule, the first of the new ones will be due to be shipped in mid-May, so I had better get busy! Let's look at where I've got to so far:
I did most of the carving of the key block during the morning Twitch stream a week or so ago. Among the Twitch viewers are a number of Patreon supporters, and I think they particularly enjoy seeing the print come to life this way ...
Here's a scan of the completed key block, with the traces of the original design still stuck to the wood, just before washing ...
... and just after washing:
The next step - before colour block carving can begin - is to take a number of proof impressions from the key block on a fairly strong paper. These will be used to transfer the colour information to fresh blocks. On goes the black pigment!
The beautiful block will never be clean again!
Here's what the key impression looks like:
I'll make as many of them as I think I need for colour blocks, and for this project, I'll be carving five more 'sides' (using two new pieces of wood, and the unused reverse side of the key block).
And here's a scan of the now 'used' key block ...
In the next entry, we'll see how those sheets are 'coloured', ready for pasting onto fresh blocks ...
Added by: Max on April 8, 2018, 10:32 pm
Looking lovely dave!
Seems bittersweet when the beautiful carving takes its first ink and will never be clean again, but I guess we have to accept that they are tools for printing as well as artworks in their own right!
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