white line experiment day 2

Today I started at 11:00 am. and finished at 12:30 pm. so I cut my time in half today. Since the ares in this block are large and there is no way to cover them and print before the watercolor dries this time I decided to paint the whole block then mist and print. over all I am pleased with the print the one thing i don't like about it are the variations in the blue of the horses body and ear. this was caused by not mixing enough paint to cover the whole area and also using too small of a brush. in the darker areas the paint was a much thicker consistency going down than the other ares on the body. painting the whole area and letting it dry then using a fine mist to reconstitute the watercolor worked great i also gave the paper i light mist just in case. I repeated this to get the coverage you see in the final print.

white line experiment

I have been interested in white line block prints for awhile now but there isn't much info out there so i just decide to go for it today. I used an old block that had been printed using oil based ink but that didn't seem to be much of a problem. the image is about 9X14 inches. I used the watercolors which i have on hand (a very limited palette) but its just an experiment so ....... most of the areas are fairly large and the watercolors dried fast so i would "color" in some areas until i got bored then I misted those areas with my best spray bottle (produces the finest mist) then printed. some of the smaller areas i printed while still wet. It seemed that if the paint went down thick or was too dry the paper would stick a bit to the block. i couldn't find any thumbtacks so i used sewing pins definitely not optimal but it still worked. i spent about three hours on the one print. i had fun with it and will keep trying it. i don't really see myself using the method to print editions but i have lots of black and white white line prints like Arion that will be fun to experiment on. heres the original print http://vizart.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Murphy the Cat woodblock print

Chine Colle using tissue papers. Chine Colle is another process that i was going to swear off just like moku-hanga but i have made this exception.