Batch of Butterflies.

 I needed four copies of this collagraph plate that were more or less identical. Anyone who is a print maker would know that it's sometimes a bit difficult to achieve this, especially with collagraphs. There are so many variables, the rubbing off of the ink, the quantity originally applied, the number of times a cardboard plate has been used and so on. Then, in this case the adding of the antennae after the print was dry.  Ooops, one antennae on the top left butterfly is much too long, a slip of the pen unfortunately. I'll try to scratch the top quarter of it off the paper and hope for the best.

The vegetation was made with a rubber (SoftCut) stamp that I made a few months ago. Perhaps I can have some more leaves coming down from the top to disguise where I've removed the offending antennae. Watch this space!

Old & New.

As predicted, it was a scorching hot day today, so I was happy to sit and carve stamps for most of the afternoon. I have almost collected up all the images for the new work, both new stamps and old ones. Now the fun begins as I start to work on the design concept that I have in mind. I will add more stamps along the way as the piece evolves and already I can think of a couple more old ones that would probably work in quite well.It's always good to be flexible with ideas in art.

The Next Project.

With the temperature predicted to be 42 °C tomorrow, it will be a day spent indoors with the air conditioner on I think. It's a good chance to get on with the next project that is waiting for some attention. I did carve three new stamps over the past few days, and those combined with 3 old ones, the dark ones shown above, will give me a start on the design that I have in mind.

Less is More

After going to the trouble of carving two Leafy Sea Dragon stamps, and printing a possible layout, I have now decided that one Dragon is enough. I have simplified the sea weed too, which is also an improvement.

                 One more print should do it I think, this time on white rather than cream paper.

A Quick Print.

I usually keep January as free as possible each year, as here in Australia it's full summer, usually very hot and most people head for the beach or other holiday spot. I look forward to January all year, as it's my 'art time' with no distractions and obligations that take up my time throughout the other 11 months of the year. Although it's not January yet, and I have lunch guests coming on Monday December 31st, I managed to grab an hour or so to try out a couple of ideas for this on going project. I tried it all out as a bleed print (no margins) but still using the archival stamp pads in a soft grey and black. I think that the grey weeds are still to busy and the black stamp ink just isn't nearly black nor solid enough.  Next I'll try with margins and good quality printing ink for the Leafy Sea Dragons. It has to be finished by January 10th, so time is marching on.

Resourceful.

Halfway through Christmas lunch, Little Miss 7 went off and quickly made herself this beard and mustache out of paper. It was very effective I thought !

Too Much for a Puppy!

This is a picture of a tired puppy. All the excitement of Christmas plus a very hot day just took its toll. After all, at just 3 months of age, it's a lot to cope with!

Lodgers.

It's amazing what will live in the air conditioning unit. A pair of marbled Geckos appear to have taken up residence in the split heating/cooling system. We managed to take one outside with no damage, but the other one dived back into the unit, never to be seen again.