Pool Day

An only art edition

I’m finally sitting down, with The Real Housewives of Miami on in the background, to share some printing videos. It was a bit daunting to try something new, but that’s what this space (and life, I guess) is for. Recorded these using the time lapse feature on my phone. Still working on the set up — tripod positioning is trickier than expected.

inspo images from Pinterest

Sara gave me the idea to create a pool inspired print. These are some of the images I used for reference when it came to my design.

Once I’ve sketched the design out, I transfer it onto the rubber. From there I go over the lines in pencil and then Sharpie. Then I score the design, especially the nooks and crannies, to make carving those tricky spots easier.

For this print, I started from the outside. I’m thinking of how exactly I want to carve the inside as I go. Whatever is not carved, the raised spaces, will hold ink. So with the print, I wanted that more outline look so there was more to carve away. The tiling around the edge of the pool was going to be a pain no matter what, but I felt like the feature really made the shape look more like a pool.

Fast forward a bit to the water and floats. When working on smaller features in a design I have to be careful not to overdo the carving; I try to be mindful of the pressure speed at which I push the tools or else I might accidentally cut into a space I wished to keep in tact.

Here’s the inking process!!! Went with a simple blue ink for this one. I spread the ink out onto the plate in a “Z” shape then roll out with my brayer. I went with the rubber brayer for this print. For the video, I inked onto a sheet of copy paper but I also made some prints on tissue paper — which is my favorite paper to print on.

the prints!!

I plan to clean up some of the chatter on the outside of the pool but I think the chatter inside adds to the water effect. The goal is to create more videos of the printing process — maybe next time I’ll do a print with a gradient or something.