Printmaking from my College Days

For this week's Flasback Friday I want to share some of my prints from my college days.  

This I made with rose petals, coins, and paper clips.

Those lead to this type of lino print.  

I love my dollie prints.

this is a lithography print

This is a lino block print, with pen over the top.

Hope you enjoyed my prints.  Happy DIYing, chris.

Hammerhead Print

I want to begin by wishing Jessica (my sister-in-law) a Happy Birthday!!!  

I also finished my hammerhead lino cut this morning.  I also found my old stencil to compare it to.  

In the afternoon I printed my linoleum block.  I used a sheet of glass to roll out some white paint on, and I used a 3.5 inch brayer to roll the ink onto the hammerhead.  I used a piece of paper I had been storing since my college days.  It has photo chemicals smeared on the surface!

Then I used my small press to print the block.  I laid the paper down, and then I placed the block on top the the paper.  I centered the block under the center of the press, and then cracked the pressure.  

This is how he turned out!  I love the ghostly unevenness to the print.  

Next I used a straw to add some bubbles floating up from the hammerhead.

To complete it I made smaller dots with the back end of a cheap plastic paint brush around the large dots.  

I was going to do my Saturday Blogger Love post today too, but it's already eight in the evening, so I might skip it this week.  I'm pretty sure that only means that next week I'll do two blogger appreciation posts!  Can't wait, I've got some great ideas planned for this coming week!  I'm sticking to making some soap tomorrow.  I've been looking forward to this project all week!  Until then, happy DIYing, chris!

Hammerhead Lino Cut

I worked on my Hammerhead Lino today, as planned, but I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.  I had a bit longer of a work day than I was expecting, and so I wasn't able to start on this project until after dinner.  I used to have a hammerhead stencil I made out of thick bristol paper, and I used that guy for all sorts of projects!  I printed him on t-shirts, spray painted him on sidewalks in Long Beach, California, and I painted him on my cat carrier!  Since we (my husband and I) moved to the east coast I haven't done much printing, but today I decided I would make a more permanent version of my hammerhead stencil.  Maybe I wont lose him this time!  

I began by drawing  the hammerhead shape on a piece of paper, than I traced that onto my 4x5 inch lino block.  I like linoleum blocks that are attached to wood, they are super easy to carve into. 

Then I used my smallest speedball tip on my carving tool, and carved out the outline of the shark.  Make sure to be careful not to damage the shark while carving around it.  

Next, I used the largest tip I have and started digging out the surface area surrounding the hammerhead.  Make this area as smooth as possible, and dig deep without cutting into the wood below the lino.  

I'll finish this project tomorrow, and hopefully I'll get to printing it too.  Happy DIYing!  chris