Maybe some of you have already heard of this, but I learned a carving
tip from one of the LbNY members while I was in NY this summer. Was it
you, Lisascenic?
You get some additional refinement of detail by wrapping your carving
material around a curved object. I used a big can of cocoa, for
example, and taped the pink stuff down to the can. It seems that this
opens up the pores of the material, and in its slightly stretched
form, you get better detail. I see it, but to me, it's subtle.
If you've found both Notus and Zephyrus wind gods, look at the stamped
impressions in your book closely. Notus was done in the standard
manner, and Zephyrus was taped to the can.
I bet that if I were more fastidious, and used an Exacto knife for
fine details, this tip would help a lot.
Well, folks, as of today, my sabbatical begins -- a six week paid
break from work. We get them once every 5 years, and this is my 10th
year of working for Charles Schwab. That means more time for
letterboxing, of course!
Paul in SF
Carving tip
6 messages in this thread |
Started on 2005-09-02
Carving tip
From: Paul (pgonyea@earthlink.net) |
Date: 2005-09-02 22:21:15 UTC
Re: Carving tip
From: rscarpen (letterboxing@atlasquest.com) |
Date: 2005-09-03 04:58:19 UTC
> I bet that if I were more fastidious, and used an Exacto knife for
> fine details, this tip would help a lot.
I wish I could get the hang of an X-acto knife. I'm just amazed at
what some people can do with them. I think I might be too impatient. I
never really got the shading down either. Argh!
> Well, folks, as of today, my sabbatical begins -- a six week paid
> break from work.
Congrats! =) So what do you plan to do for six weeks? Surely more than
just letterbox!? Perhaps letterboxing in foreign countries or riding
your bike cross country? (Do you have a bike?)
> We get them once every 5 years, and this is my 10th
> year of working for Charles Schwab.
You work for Charles Schwab? Hmm.... That surprises me. =) They seem
too 'stuck up' for your bubbling personality. Wouldn't have taken you
as a corporate guy! More like the essentric artist. ;o)
Happy trails!
-- Ryan
PS. Princess Lea--if you master the art of shading, teach me some day!
Or just let me watch a master in action for a few minutes.
> fine details, this tip would help a lot.
I wish I could get the hang of an X-acto knife. I'm just amazed at
what some people can do with them. I think I might be too impatient. I
never really got the shading down either. Argh!
> Well, folks, as of today, my sabbatical begins -- a six week paid
> break from work.
Congrats! =) So what do you plan to do for six weeks? Surely more than
just letterbox!? Perhaps letterboxing in foreign countries or riding
your bike cross country? (Do you have a bike?)
> We get them once every 5 years, and this is my 10th
> year of working for Charles Schwab.
You work for Charles Schwab? Hmm.... That surprises me. =) They seem
too 'stuck up' for your bubbling personality. Wouldn't have taken you
as a corporate guy! More like the essentric artist. ;o)
Happy trails!
-- Ryan
PS. Princess Lea--if you master the art of shading, teach me some day!
Or just let me watch a master in action for a few minutes.
Re: Carving tip
From: Lisa Lazar (lazar.bauer@earthlink.net) |
Date: 2005-09-03 06:26:03 UTC
Pshaw Paul, I can't imagine being put in the same category of the
amazing Ms. ArtTrekker. Her work blows me away! In addition to her
sensitive (and so restrained) use of line, I just adore her
compositions. I'm still at the will-it-fit-in-the-box phase of
composing my images. Hopefully, I'll grow past that. I think her
stamps On the Gold Trail may be one of my favorite relief prints of
all time. It makes me think of Japanese woodblock prints, with their
incredible compositions, and implied narratives.
Funny thing is...even though this is sort of a holy grail of stamp
carving, I never really think about fine detail. I like large areas
of tone. I have a set of micro carvers that I never use, mostly
because they are the "u" shaped blade, and lately I prefer the "v"
blade or the very shallow curved flattish linoleum cutter.
I'm not one of those carve-on-the-trail artists. I tend to chew on an
idea for an image for a while, and then crank out a stamp quite
quickly. I also have a weird attitude about my stamps; I just assume
that they're going out into the world, never to be seen again, so I
just don't fret over them so much. I think about my own work that way
(I'm a theatrical scenic artist -- I run the paint shop for Berkeley
Repertory Theatre and also for Glimmerglass Opera). We put a lot of
love and care into our work, but for the most part, when the show is
over, the scenery is going into the dumpster. I HATE this
ecologically, but I sort of love this in a sick way, otherwise. It
keeps me from fretting about making an acknowledged masterpiece every
workday (THE STRESSSSSSSSSS!), because I know that my scenery will
have a very short lifespan.
I think the best advice I would give to anyone wanting to expand their
carving vocabulary is to look at relief prints, and figure out why a
particular image "grabs" you. Like any other technique, relief
printing has technical parameters, and you generally have to embrace
those. Sure, some fine artists make linoleum or pear wood or carved
cardboard do things that you wouldn't think possible, but I have to
say, I just love the look of a "typical" linoleum or woodblock print.
Kaethe Kollwitz is my hero, for a lot of reasons. Look her up! I've
also been thinking about Hiroshige, lately. Not that it shows in my
silly lil stamps. But it is nice to consider the pantheon of relief
printing from time to time.
blablabla...sorry.... I didn't know I had so much to say on this
subject tonight.
Lisascenic
amazing Ms. ArtTrekker. Her work blows me away! In addition to her
sensitive (and so restrained) use of line, I just adore her
compositions. I'm still at the will-it-fit-in-the-box phase of
composing my images. Hopefully, I'll grow past that. I think her
stamps On the Gold Trail may be one of my favorite relief prints of
all time. It makes me think of Japanese woodblock prints, with their
incredible compositions, and implied narratives.
Funny thing is...even though this is sort of a holy grail of stamp
carving, I never really think about fine detail. I like large areas
of tone. I have a set of micro carvers that I never use, mostly
because they are the "u" shaped blade, and lately I prefer the "v"
blade or the very shallow curved flattish linoleum cutter.
I'm not one of those carve-on-the-trail artists. I tend to chew on an
idea for an image for a while, and then crank out a stamp quite
quickly. I also have a weird attitude about my stamps; I just assume
that they're going out into the world, never to be seen again, so I
just don't fret over them so much. I think about my own work that way
(I'm a theatrical scenic artist -- I run the paint shop for Berkeley
Repertory Theatre and also for Glimmerglass Opera). We put a lot of
love and care into our work, but for the most part, when the show is
over, the scenery is going into the dumpster. I HATE this
ecologically, but I sort of love this in a sick way, otherwise. It
keeps me from fretting about making an acknowledged masterpiece every
workday (THE STRESSSSSSSSSS!), because I know that my scenery will
have a very short lifespan.
I think the best advice I would give to anyone wanting to expand their
carving vocabulary is to look at relief prints, and figure out why a
particular image "grabs" you. Like any other technique, relief
printing has technical parameters, and you generally have to embrace
those. Sure, some fine artists make linoleum or pear wood or carved
cardboard do things that you wouldn't think possible, but I have to
say, I just love the look of a "typical" linoleum or woodblock print.
Kaethe Kollwitz is my hero, for a lot of reasons. Look her up! I've
also been thinking about Hiroshige, lately. Not that it shows in my
silly lil stamps. But it is nice to consider the pantheon of relief
printing from time to time.
blablabla...sorry.... I didn't know I had so much to say on this
subject tonight.
Lisascenic
Re: Carving tip
From: Paul (pgonyea@earthlink.net) |
Date: 2005-09-03 22:46:16 UTC
> Congrats! =) So what do you plan to do for six weeks? Surely more
than
> just letterbox!? Perhaps letterboxing in foreign countries or riding
> your bike cross country? (Do you have a bike?)
I have a variety of creative pursuits to overwhelm me, many neglected.
I'm also a landscape painter in pastels and watercolors, and I want to
do some painting. Two weeks in Manhattan, staying with a friend, with
lots of museum time, punctuated with some letterboxing, and an
exchange with Miss Moon.
You must have missed the posts where I announced that I now own the
ultimate letterboxing vehicle: 150cc scooter. Although I can't go on
freeways (my max speed is 55mph), I can maneuver into parking spots
the size of tiny bit of curb. I fill my gas tank for $3.
> You work for Charles Schwab? Hmm.... That surprises me. =) They seem
> too 'stuck up' for your bubbling personality. Wouldn't have taken you
> as a corporate guy! More like the essentric artist. ;o)
Schwab is a corporation that embraces diversity in both backgrounds
and in styles. I have a unique position working as a multimedia
designer and producer for training, mostly for management programs. I
have both left and sides of the brain in action at work. You're right,
I'm not 'corporate', but creativity combined with practical business
application is highly sought after in successful organizations.
On my list of future 'To Do' letterboxes is one about money, how we
use it, translate it, make it, spend it and lose it.
But now my work brain is turned off for 6 weeks, and I'm focusing on
finishing my "Minotaur's Maze" now.
Paul
than
> just letterbox!? Perhaps letterboxing in foreign countries or riding
> your bike cross country? (Do you have a bike?)
I have a variety of creative pursuits to overwhelm me, many neglected.
I'm also a landscape painter in pastels and watercolors, and I want to
do some painting. Two weeks in Manhattan, staying with a friend, with
lots of museum time, punctuated with some letterboxing, and an
exchange with Miss Moon.
You must have missed the posts where I announced that I now own the
ultimate letterboxing vehicle: 150cc scooter. Although I can't go on
freeways (my max speed is 55mph), I can maneuver into parking spots
the size of tiny bit of curb. I fill my gas tank for $3.
> You work for Charles Schwab? Hmm.... That surprises me. =) They seem
> too 'stuck up' for your bubbling personality. Wouldn't have taken you
> as a corporate guy! More like the essentric artist. ;o)
Schwab is a corporation that embraces diversity in both backgrounds
and in styles. I have a unique position working as a multimedia
designer and producer for training, mostly for management programs. I
have both left and sides of the brain in action at work. You're right,
I'm not 'corporate', but creativity combined with practical business
application is highly sought after in successful organizations.
On my list of future 'To Do' letterboxes is one about money, how we
use it, translate it, make it, spend it and lose it.
But now my work brain is turned off for 6 weeks, and I'm focusing on
finishing my "Minotaur's Maze" now.
Paul
Re: [LbNCA] Re: Carving tip
From: Kel Gennert (arttrekker@tech21.com) |
Date: 2005-09-04 17:43:01 UTC-07:00
You guys are making me blush (and Lisa, you are just being too modest)...I just want to be clear that I usually start with existing art. I already spend way too much time carving & can't justify starting from scratch. I'm supposed to be making "real" art! I look for old illustrations that please me and depict what I'm looking for. I try to make them "mine" in how they're carved--I don't want the final stamp image to look like a carbon imitation of the art I start with. Sometimes I start with a digital photo that I take--Milk Farm, for example, and Theodore Judah--when I want to depict an actual place and can't find an image.
I do have a desire to do some very "arty" stamps sometime--I still hold Drew's Wharf Cat in Monterey as something to emulate. But that's for down the road a bit.
Lisa, when you say "relief" print, do you mean as opposed to intaglio?
Hope you're all having a splendid weekend. I'm still soliciting recommendations for the Pacific Northwest.
aT
I do have a desire to do some very "arty" stamps sometime--I still hold Drew's Wharf Cat in Monterey as something to emulate. But that's for down the road a bit.
Lisa, when you say "relief" print, do you mean as opposed to intaglio?
Hope you're all having a splendid weekend. I'm still soliciting recommendations for the Pacific Northwest.
aT
RE: [LbNCA] Re: Carving tip
From: Hedglin, Nils A (Nils.A.Hedglin@Intel.Com) |
Date: 2005-09-07 08:53:33 UTC-07:00
Highly recommend High Pass Mystery by California Bear. There's others
of his in the immediate area.
-----Original Message-----
From: LbNCA@yahoogroups.com [mailto:LbNCA@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Kel Gennert
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 5:43 PM
To: LbNCA@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [LbNCA] Re: Carving tip
You guys are making me blush (and Lisa, you are just being too
modest)...I just want to be clear that I usually start with existing
art. I already spend way too much time carving & can't justify starting
from scratch. I'm supposed to be making "real" art! I look for old
illustrations that please me and depict what I'm looking for. I try to
make them "mine" in how they're carved--I don't want the final stamp
image to look like a carbon imitation of the art I start with. Sometimes
I start with a digital photo that I take--Milk Farm, for example, and
Theodore Judah--when I want to depict an actual place and can't find an
image.
I do have a desire to do some very "arty" stamps sometime--I still hold
Drew's Wharf Cat in Monterey as something to emulate. But that's for
down the road a bit.
Lisa, when you say "relief" print, do you mean as opposed to intaglio?
Hope you're all having a splendid weekend. I'm still soliciting
recommendations for the Pacific Northwest.
aT
Yahoo! Groups Links
of his in the immediate area.
-----Original Message-----
From: LbNCA@yahoogroups.com [mailto:LbNCA@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Kel Gennert
Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 5:43 PM
To: LbNCA@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [LbNCA] Re: Carving tip
You guys are making me blush (and Lisa, you are just being too
modest)...I just want to be clear that I usually start with existing
art. I already spend way too much time carving & can't justify starting
from scratch. I'm supposed to be making "real" art! I look for old
illustrations that please me and depict what I'm looking for. I try to
make them "mine" in how they're carved--I don't want the final stamp
image to look like a carbon imitation of the art I start with. Sometimes
I start with a digital photo that I take--Milk Farm, for example, and
Theodore Judah--when I want to depict an actual place and can't find an
image.
I do have a desire to do some very "arty" stamps sometime--I still hold
Drew's Wharf Cat in Monterey as something to emulate. But that's for
down the road a bit.
Lisa, when you say "relief" print, do you mean as opposed to intaglio?
Hope you're all having a splendid weekend. I'm still soliciting
recommendations for the Pacific Northwest.
aT
Yahoo! Groups Links