Preliminary skater sketches
I’m one of those people that has a lot of stuff. My apartment always seems to be cluttered, I think that entropy is a little stronger than usual in my life.
Last night I reached a tilting point. I have been working late hours and not sleeping quite enough, and one of the results is that I have ignored a lot of the nuts and bolts of life. I spent last night tightening the nuts and picking up the bolts, taking care of laundry, dishes, and most of all de-cluttering my desk.
This morning I woke up to a clean desk with my computers, drawing supplies, carving tools, and the most basic of office tools. The simplicity and cleanliness breathed new life into my morning work.
A nice clean work space makes everything nicer.
New (No) Work
My emphasis on cleanliness kept me away from this series of skater prints I have been working on. I have one in progress though, so I thought I would show you how I make these things.
I start out with a few quick sketches, like you see on the right. These are little more than scribbles, to get the basic gist of the shapes, movement, and energy I am trying to get.
I think about the overall movement in the sketch first of all, then later I fill it in with the structural details of the body. It is very easy to draw figures that look stiff and sorta awkward, it takes a bit more work to make the figures look like they are moving. I don’t always completely succeed, but that is where my mind is.
Pencil Sketch for the 3rd Skater Woodblock
Once I’m done with the quick sketches, I do a more fleshed out sketch, where I really work out how I want the print to look. Check it out on the left
I build up these sketches with darker and darker pencil lines. I start with a very hard pencil, usually a 4H, sometimes a 6H.
Quick note about pencils: Pencils are designated by how hard or soft the graphite is. Harder graphite makes a finer, lighter line, softer graphite makes a darker, “smooshier” line. The range is from 9H (the hardest), to 9B (the softest). HB is right in the middle, #2 pencils are typically HB.
Altogether, the scale is: 9B, 8B, …, 2B, B, F, HB, B, 2B, …, 8B, 9B.
So back to the sketch, I use a 4H to sketch the basic shapes. After I have gotten this fairly well determined, I use a 2H to continue to flesh out the drawing. I use the 2H until the drawing starts to take shape.
last I switch to a soft pencil, a 6B, to really nail the linework. These woodblock prints will be printed in black and white, with no grayscale. The soft pencil puts a very dark line on the paper, and it duplicates the effect that a carved block will have fairly well.
The other advantage of using a soft pencil is that they do not hold a sharp point for longer than a few lines. It is difficult to get a very fine line with the woodblocks that I am using, so using the softer pencil gives me a better idea of what I will realistically be able to carve.
Put it on Wood
Third skater block, carving in progress
When I’m happy with the sketch, I draw the image again in pencil on the block. I usually again start with the 4H, but have to be careful, because the pencil will scratch the block surface if I press too hard. I follow the same pattern as with the paper sketch, I switch to a 2H, then eventually a 6B. When the 6B drawing is done, I start carving.
As I carve, I continually remark the block with my 6B pencil, because the graphite smears away as I work. I also tip the pencil on the side, and rub it over the carved areas, to get an idea of how the block will look when I roll it with ink.
The carving takes a while, especially delicate areas like the hands and face. The block you see on the right is my progress after about 2 hours of carving.
The head and the left arm are carved, but that is it. This block probably has another 2 or 3 hours of carving to do.
And of course, what was I listening to when I worked on this?
- Crucifix – Dehumanization
- Operation Ivy – Energy
- Final Conflict – Ashes to Ashes
- Bad Religion – ’80 – ‘85
It’s just punk rock.
101 things I learned from making 101 prints, Part 5
Saturday, February 13th, 2010After finishing the 101 Woodblock Print Project (printing 101 all-different woodblock prints), comes this series of 101 things I learned by making these prints.
These 101 prints are for sale to email newsletter subscribers (sign up at left). They will be available to everyone in a couple week, but the price increases by about 7x. As a promotion, I am selling them for the price the materials and shipping cost me, nothing more. If you prefer to spend less money rather than more money, act now.
The last 20 prints are going to be uploaded to the sales gallery today, so all the latest, freshest prints are freshly available.
Previously, in this series of 101 things I learned by making 101 Woodblock prints:
The Last 21 Things I learned by making 101 Woodblock Prints
Tags: 101, lessons
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