Finally - Hand Printed fabric Swap III

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Monkey Run

The first of the chimpanzee run with block ink. Just a quick trial run on brown paper before I went off to work. I am undecided whether I should carve more out of the darker side of the face and risk loosing some of the contrast in colour.

It kind of reminds me of Planet Of the Apes. 

 I think I'll carve the space away above the arms and give the monkey more definition. Yes/No??

The first print below held only very little ink, as is usually the case the third prints are usually the best before the block gets saturated.

The lino carving as is at the moment. Maybe trial printing on fabric before I make a decision.

Monkey Warhol

 My wall of "Andy Warhol " monkey prints. Actually its just my prints drying on the floor but it would look good to have repetitive prints on mount board  on the wall.

I did   a t- shirt  but of course it had to get a blob of ink in the middle of its nose. Cheap t- shirt,so it doesn't really matter

And one for Jordy, but she is away on camp at the moment. Monkey can rest awhile on the chair.

Eye Spy

I've got to say I got a little tired of printing and needed a change of scene for an evening. Added to that my husband gets a little frustrated with the printing equipment spread across the dining table and the general clutter I do generate. So screen printing and stamping is done when no one else is home. 

Saturday night I fetched out my last piece of lino and decided to monkey around for a bit. Chimps are fascinating creatures don't you think and I fell in love with some of the images/ photographs on line of chimps.

So a combination of photos and this little fella is being carved out with particular reference to form from this photo.

I'm really looking forward to meeting this little fella and emblazoning him on a t-shirt

Hand printed fabric swap - part 100 -the never ending story

I started off with base colours of yellow , bright pink, white and black.

A request for magenta and oranges lead me to start mixing colours. the centre of the lotus flower  is yellow and bright pink to yield a rather burnt orange. And then I dabbed the hot pink on the outer edges of the lotus flower. Working in the pattern that I stamped yesterday (but more evenly spaced) has given this rather hot run of material. One of my friends last night suggested that the flower reminded her of Florence Broadhurst prints...I do love her work, high praise indeed

 Random stamping for the next request for muted tones, earthy favouring green, grey, brown or white.
I struggled with this print as my grey leaves would just not stamp evenly and give me a nice impression - always half hearted and missing the middle of the leaves. It was most frustrating. I do like the mix of colours though. The burnt orange above had a little grey added to it to yield a olive/yellow green found on the outside of the flowers. The center of the lotus flower is straight yellow. When I finished stamping the lotus flowers I then added some more pink to give the golden brown.

I've got to say it though that grey was a real 'bitch' to print with and caused me much frustration.
Parts of the print is okay but I might have to try this one again.

And to finish off some of the inks and just play a quick medallion.

Are you sick of the prints yet????

Smurf Blue

Dabbling with the stamps with blue ink meant getting my hands dirty and being another stinking hot day in Adelaide I was not going to wear gloves. So now I have a lovely shade of blue adorning my ever so elegant hands. I have never had very delicate looking hands  and you could liken them to the hands of the peasants in The Potato Eaters, by the flying Dutchman himself, Vincent Van Gough. I really am getting back to my Dutch heritage today. A Dutch smurf it is then!

 Trialling the thistle screen
I had to add more screen filler in places where I missed particularly on the edge of the screen. That ink manages to squeeze through the tiniest of places.

Next time I'll measure and place the screen to give a regular print. I also wont allow the dog inside because she kept running over the material when it was drying. But what are you to do, its stinking hot and I wouldn't want to be locked outside on such a scorching day.

Managed to utilize the stamp with fabric ink by dabbing the ink on with an ordinary kitchen sponge. Of course it soaks through the sponge and hence my smurf characteristics.

Any ho, thanks for stopping by again and I cant wait to see what everybody comes up with for the fabric swap.

Thistles

A quick sketch after work of one of my favourites, the thistle. The thistle is such a strong flower, nothing delicate, but intriguing with handsome heads of purple haze. Thorny sides are just to remind you that there is room to admire his purple tuft but dont touch or you might be spiked.

Anyway thought I'd give fluid drawing on the silk screen a go and see what happens when its filled.

As you can see the screen is well and truly wet

Maybe it will work , maybe it wont. I'll find out Wednesday because some of us have to work!

argggh!

Hand Printed Fabric Swap

Are you bored yet with my stamp?

I quite like it. I am finding it a challenge to get a good print consistently though.

I found that using textile ink to runny to be applied with a stamp. It is great for screen printing but doesnt give a good even coverage when applied to a rubber stamp.

My red block printing ink on the other hand is nice and tacky a gives a thick even coverage with a roller.
Do you like a consistent multiple pattern or random stamping?

It is probably too hot today to be playing with screen printing inks as they were drying out too quickly.

I had less trouble with the smaller stamp of the seed pod. Every one of them came out with a nice even print.
It makes me wonder of my leaf and lotus flower stamp doesnt give as good a print because they have been mounted on a block.

The advantage of having the stamp on the block means that it is easier to manipulate without the stamp block flexing when trying to place the print. It also means that the stamp is well clear of the work surface and I dont risk rolling the fabric as I ink the block.

My dad made one with a handle and one without. The leaf block can be inked easily on the table surface, whereas the lotus flower has to be held as you ink it, but is easier to manipulate it. No handle is also easier to store away.

Anybody have any thoughts on ink types to utilize with a larger stamp block?

Hand Printed Fabric Swap - Lotus Flower

Ive been working on my hand printed fabric swap today . I decided that I wanted a cleaner line for the seed head inside the flower and carved it directly in the flower stamp. This will eliminate the possibility of utilizing another colour when printing but makes for much cleaner lines.

This is the original flower , below,with the separate centre cut out and stamped in afterwards and above with the flower with the seed head already in the flower. 

I have also carved a seed head and  a vine of leaves (not related to the lotus flower but more aesthetically pleasing to me) I can use this leaf in a running pattern

Carving the leaf stamp block

 and seed head

Random placement just to get a feel for the stamps.
On a side thought, I went today to TYPO and picked up rolls of second paper for 20 cents a roll, bargain
I think I need to pick a new stamp pad though because the ink on my pad is getting really hard to get even coverage with - but you get the idea of the print don't you?

Really like a rose background and black ink stamping.
Would look good in bright blue stamp on hemp / taupe coloured fabric...no?