The Narwhal part 11

The first phase of this narwhal project was to design and cut the block.  The second phase is to pull some proofs with black oil based ink for use as prints.  The last phase is to use color relief inks to color the block itself, as I did with the mermaid block a few years ago.  The only problem is that when I searched my ink supply in the Studio the last time I was there, the color inks weren't there. Had just a few small Speedball tubes, but not my large Daniel Smith tubes.  What I had might get me through the process, but I knew it would be easier with the others.  This morning I had an idea.  All along I had assumed that the ink must have been put somewhere else for another project, but this morning (while the rain continued to fall) I remembered that I had brought color inks to all the linocut classes I taught last summer; perhaps they never got back to the Studio. I had checked my car yesterday, so this morning I checked my apartment and found a bag with 5 large nearly full tubes of water based relief ink- red, yellow, blue, green, and white.  Now I was in business.

The rain stopped late morning. While still at home I got a call from my mother, who had read the online version of the Coast Star (southern Monmouth coastal town weekly) while out of the house and saw the ad for my classes at the JSAC.  Out a little sooner than I expected, but that's not a problem, especially since the registration system is now in place.

News reports of the local weather were a little unspecific as to how long this break in the rain would last, so I decided to take advantage of the dry (and cooler) weather to get up to Ocean Grove with some more paper and pull one last black proof of my narwhal block.  So after lunch, I gathered what I needed and hit the road.

The weather stayed cool and gray, but dry as I got up there. The building was pretty empty, but that never bothers me.  For music I went with a copy I made of a disc containing the first two albums by X, the seminal Los Angeles punk band, and like so many southwestern bands, with a hint of country and western.  The first task was to put away my new supply of old color ink.

The company that made and sold these inks decided several years ago to stop doing both, so these are now a rarity.  However there is no value in hoarding them, so I'll just keep using them as needed until they dry up or are exhausted.  Put this collection away with the rest of my other inks.

My real purpose today was to get one more proof of the narwhal block before I started coloring it.  The disc included two albums, Los Angeles and Wild Gift, and still only clocked in at about an hour, but I figured with the hard fast music that was all I'd need to get a proof done. I had brought another sheet of the okawara with me, but I also had a piece of Rives Heavyweight torn to the right size but not used in the previous printing session, and decide to go with that one today. A lot of big black shapes in this block, so I decided to go with a small soft brayer that allowed me to put down a lot of ink, while avoiding the larger white shapes. Blocks with broad black shapes are easy to ink, but printing those shapes evenly often requires much re-inking and physical effort.   But I finished the printing in that hour.

My best proof of the block to date, most like what I expected.   Maybe it was the paper choice.  Took me another hour to clean up everything.  I expect to hand color these proofs- first my repaired test proof, then the others based on what I learn doing that.  But direct printing of the block is now complete.  The first two proofs I took several days ago seem pretty dry now, so maybe I'll begin the coloring process tomorrow.

Back home I sent e-mails to three local people- all fans of woodcut, and all visitors to the recent print show opening we had in the Ocean Grove building. Letting them know that the classes are now scheduled and registration is open. Not to get them to sign up, but with a request to pass the information on to anyone they know who might be interested in some art classes in the region.  So all in all, a busy day.