In the Studio: One Step at a Time
[In the Studio, June 25, 2011 /Image & Artwork: designslinger studio]
First there's an idea, then there's a drawing, then several more drawings, ending with an image I had in my mind's eye all along. Then time for a carbon traced transfer on to the linoleum block - and finally the carving can begin.
[In the Studio: One Step at a Time /Image and Artwork: designslinger studio]
On many a block, I've found myself staring at the teensy-tiniest little area to carve and think, "What was I thinking?" During the drawing process I am mindful of what I want the final image to look like and how to work the drawing into using as few blocks as possible while getting lots of color into the final print. And I also have the "How am I going to carve that?" thought running through my head. But, if I like what I see, I figure that I'll just make the carving part work. Somehow.
[In the Studio /Image & Artwork: designslinger studio]
There is an impulse (in all of us?) to make things happen fast. So come carving time my first instinct is to look for use the largest blade size I can use in a given area, and get that section carved without wasting time and energy. But that's not how it works. At least not for me. I've found that I can carve anything I've drawn if I take my time and start with the smallest blade, a #1. It's the tiniest knife blade I have right now and makes a shallow cut that makes that first initial break in the linoleum's surface and provides a good starting-outline cut of the drawing. Especially for those tightly squeezed areas I've drawn up. I could alter the drawing a bit I guess, and I do. But I can't make myself change things and compromise the integrity of the image just to make the carving go easier and faster.
[In the Studio /Image & Artwork: designslinger studio]
So after making that first cut and establishing a clean line, I move on to the number 2, opening the block even more, then the 3, and finish-up with the number 5, a nice wide blade that cuts the largest surface area. Of course it doesn't always follow that exact same routine, sometimes I've actually drawn something that I can go straight into with a number 3, but more often than not, this 1,2,3 sequence of events happens over and over again.
I even go into some of those teensy-tiny areas with an X-acto blade to get the area cut and clear of lino debris. Am I crazy? Maybe. And there may be a much more efficient way to do this, but I haven't discovered it yet. Of course I could change the drawing, but I know what I want things to look like in the end and if it takes 5 or 6 carving steps to get there, well then that's what it takes, step by step, inch by micro inch.....
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