Inklore

When I'm working on a large sketch, I typically work on an 18" square.  A print of this size works well for several of the items I sell: pillows, napkins, totes, and even on the hem of an apron.  This size would also work well if I decided to turn a print into a repeating pattern.  So, I took the sketch I had done and drew it larger on an 18" square piece of tracing paper.  Once I was happy with the final drawing I went over it with a charcoal pencil.

After tracing the entire drawing with charcoal, I turned it over onto a piece of safety-cut lino and rubbed the drawing with my hand to transfer the drawing to the printing surface.  I like to use charcoal for large sketchy drawings because it is so easy to transfer. 

Then I remove the tracing paper and my block is ready to carve.  I'll be carving this print over the weekend and will share the finished print next week!  Have a lovely weekend.

Hello; I'm back with day two.  I'm realizing that I should have had this series written ahead of time as inspiration really comes in fits and starts around here, but I think I'm on a roll now.  So....one day when my daughter was at ballet and I was sketching on some sheets of printer paper, I sketched out this flower, which I'm sure was inspired by all of those geometric patterns I showed you on day one.  I've wanted to do a round print for a long time, without it being round-ish, and I think this is exactly what I've had in mind.  You'll see that I took that sketch and put it in my journal next to another product idea....sneak peek!  I'll be back tomorrow with the big drawing that is a result of this quick sketch and I'll show you how I transfer my drawings to my printing blocks.  See you tomorrow.