Reduction Printing Experiment

Cloth Paper Scissors * Issue 38 *  September-October 2011 * page 40

I decided that I was really going to enjoy this time off - something seems to have shifted in me recently. Maybe having my position eliminated and having to start another job threw a circuit in my head but I am determined to use my time off and to enjoy every minute of it that I can.

This recent article by Lisa Thorpe in Cloth Paper Scissors piqued my interest. I had recently taken my Speedall carving tools out of hibernation so it seemed like a good time to try this technique. Of course I decided to try it on the spur of the moment - after I failed at nap time because I was battling 'monkey mind'. I pulled 4 colors ( yellow, bright lime green, medium green and magenta) of heavy body acrylic out of the drawer,  grabbed a piece of  Dick Blick easy-cut printing block and had at it.  The idea is to plan a a piece, cutting different areas away as you go from lightest color (I used yellow) to darkest color (I used magenta).

When I added the darkest, and the last, color and elements, I also varied the amount magenta I used. Below you can three cards that I printed from lightest to darkest by varying the amount of the darkest color.  I had a lot of fun trying this out and now that I have done one I'll another and plan it a bit better. It does take a "do it first" trial to get an idea of how it all works together. I've never been that great at seeing all of the negative and positive results in my head - so a little trial and error is always appropriate for me.

Top to Bottom: Light, Medium, Dark

Lightest

Medium

Darkest

Upper Right Shows the block print as would now be used.

I think that I would consider cutting four different blocks and using registration marks next time - just to see if I could make the technique 'repeatable'. If I thought of doing this than I'm quite sure that it's been done by many people before. I'll just have to hunt up the results.