St Dwynwen part 12

When I pulled the two most recent proofs of my St Dwynwen block I was under the belief that the prints were going to be due today.   Didn't think I'd quite make that, but wanted to come close. Since then I got word that the new deadline was more like the beginning of February.  So things need not be hurried quite so much, but there is still a bit of work to be done.  Figuring those proofs would be dry enough to color now, I went to the Studio this afternoon to get that process going.

I played around with some color combinations last week, and that was my starting point.  What is most different this time is the paper.  Last time I pulled a proof on Okawara, a very thin Japanese paper, while the newest ones were on Rives papers, cotton, white, and not so thin.  They take watercolor much differently than the Japanese paper does, so I figured it's best to test it before coloring the new proofs.  At my last printing session, the first proof somehow shifted on the block, and I ended up with a double printed page, useless for the final print.  However, suitable for testing colors, and that ink is also dry now.  So I started putting some colors down on that one, as the paper tape I was using to stretch one of my new prints was drying.  Didn't pull out the tubes and make new mixes, just used some leftover paints from last week.

Also was testing colors because I wasn't quite satisfied with everything I had tried last week. What you see above are three different proofs and states.  Furthest away is the proof I had pulled weeks ago  on Okawara and colored last week. Closest is the double printed proof I used today to test some color choices.  The one in the middle is one of my new good ones.  Going slow with the colors today, so I only got two done. Last time I thought the colors of the wooden spoons and carving tool handles were too similar.  This time there is a little more visual separation.  The spoon is a mix of naples yellow and white, a very light brown with a hint of warmth.  The tool wooden handles are a mix of raw sienna and white, and once dried, a wash of buff titanium and white.  Makes the color a little paler and a little duller, a possible effect of handling the tools for a few decades.

I didn't have any more of my brass mix left, so next time I'll have to mix up a fresh batch, test it, and then apply it to the good proof.  I can probably do the wheel same as last time, and I think the blue color and red heart will be fine also.  Thinking about putting a pale color on the whole card, to make it feel like a whole object and giving it some separation from the white paper, but I'll need to test a few things before I do that.  Perhaps this all gets done tomorrow.