try concentric lines that surround the image. I would
leave at least the very edge of the stamp there to
frame the image, I find they stamp better that way.
So far we've only placed 4 boxes (HH's included) but I
really enjoy the stamp-making. I end up making about
2-3 per day.

Jim


--- "ndnboxing "
wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Another new guy here...thought I'd ask if anybody
> chooses to use
> negative image stamps (where the white space is the
> image) instead of
> the other way. I carved one tonight and kind of want
> to preserve the
> white spaced image instead of outlining it as I
> usually do. I don't
> like the swath of ink surrounding the white image,
> but I can maybe do
> some background work to make it bearable. The image
> is very cool in
> the white inversed way it is presented. Anyone out
> there ever have this
> quandry?
> Thanks,
> Mark
>
>
>


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
http://shopping.yahoo.com

---
Thanks for the advice and the reply. Maybe concentric circles coming
out of a moon or something to fill in the space...hmmm. Good idea.
Happy hunting,
Mark


In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, letterboxing mobots
wrote:
> try concentric lines that surround the image. I would
> leave at least the very edge of the stamp there to
> frame the image, I find they stamp better that way.
> So far we've only placed 4 boxes (HH's included) but I
> really enjoy the stamp-making. I end up making about
> 2-3 per day.
>
> Jim
>
>
> --- "ndnboxing "
> wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > Another new guy here...thought I'd ask if anybody
> > chooses to use
> > negative image stamps (where the white space is the
> > image) instead of
> > the other way. I carved one tonight and kind of want
> > to preserve the
> > white spaced image instead of outlining it as I
> > usually do. I don't
> > like the swath of ink surrounding the white image,
> > but I can maybe do
> > some background work to make it bearable. The image
> > is very cool in
> > the white inversed way it is presented. Anyone out
> > there ever have this
> > quandry?
> > Thanks,
> > Mark
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
> http://shopping.yahoo.com

> Another new guy here...thought I'd ask if anybody chooses to use
> negative image stamps (where the white space is the image) instead
> of the other way.

There are a lot of people who do that--particularly beginner carvers
since they're generally easier to carve.

> I don't like the swath of ink surrounding the white image, but I
> can maybe do some background work to make it bearable.

I'm so glad you said that, because while there's nothing wrong with
negative images per se, that swath of ink surrounding the white image
*usually* looks absolutely awful. It's great to see you've noticed
that problem and want to do something about it! =) I've seen
several ways in which people have handled the problem including:

1. Make a "frame" around the image. Thin lines near the edges of the
stamp will do wonders, but you can also make more exotic and creative
frames to. Or at least turn the edge into a "wavy" line rather than
the plain, straight ones.

2. Make sure that swath of ink isn't rectangular. For some reason, a
swath of rectangular ink looks so much worse than ovals, hexagons, or
even an irregular shape. With those other shapes, it looks like you
MEANT for it look like it does while the rectangular ones look like
you just never finished the carving.

3. A random background pattern will work wonders on such a stamp.
Someone suggested concentric circles (as if radiating from a moon or
something) which works well, but just about any pattern will work
effectively. Two of my favorite stamps I've ever seen used this
method. The one was of a turtle with wavy lines in the background
representing the water--ever effective, while the other was a frog
with just a random pattern of circles and half circles. Kind of
looked like something you'd see on that special origami paper,
actually, but it was a beautiful stamp!

4. The only stamps I've ever created using the negative image was my
Petroglyph series in Nevada in order to make it look more like real,
genuine petrogylphs. Since the real-life ones were created
by "picking out" the desert varnish so the lighter-colored rock
underneath could show through, it seemed logical that that's how my
stamps should look! To avoid that horrible "block" look, I cut the
stamp into a roughly oval shape (not a perfect oval, though, since
when has a petroglyph been carved into a perfect oval?), and roughed
up the background by scratching and gouging so the "rock" didn't look
so smooth and perfect. (Again, I wanted it to have that real-life
petroglyph look.)

4. Another really neat effect I've seen is where HALF the image is
positive while the other half is negative. Kind of a "day/night"
look to it since they're carved in opposite ways. Generally I think
it works better on landscape kind of images than say, an animal.
I've always dreamed of creating my own stamp like this but have yet
to actually try it myself.

And of course, you can use more than one of these strategies if you
so choose.

Good luck! =)

-- Ryan

Thanks Ryan! All of this is great advice and I'll certainly improve the
stamp having read this.
Happy carving,
Mark


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "rscarpen " <
RiskyNil@h...> wrote:
> > Another new guy here...thought I'd ask if anybody chooses to use
> > negative image stamps (where the white space is the image) instead
> > of the other way.
>
> There are a lot of people who do that--particularly beginner carvers
> since they're generally easier to carve.
>
> > I don't like the swath of ink surrounding the white image, but I
> > can maybe do some background work to make it bearable.
>
> I'm so glad you said that, because while there's nothing wrong with
> negative images per se, that swath of ink surrounding the white image
> *usually* looks absolutely awful. It's great to see you've noticed
> that problem and want to do something about it! =) I've seen
> several ways in which people have handled the problem including:
>
> 1. Make a "frame" around the image. Thin lines near the edges of the
> stamp will do wonders, but you can also make more exotic and creative
> frames to. Or at least turn the edge into a "wavy" line rather than
> the plain, straight ones.
>
> 2. Make sure that swath of ink isn't rectangular. For some reason, a
> swath of rectangular ink looks so much worse than ovals, hexagons, or
> even an irregular shape. With those other shapes, it looks like you
> MEANT for it look like it does while the rectangular ones look like
> you just never finished the carving.
>
> 3. A random background pattern will work wonders on such a stamp.
> Someone suggested concentric circles (as if radiating from a moon or
> something) which works well, but just about any pattern will work
> effectively. Two of my favorite stamps I've ever seen used this
> method. The one was of a turtle with wavy lines in the background
> representing the water--ever effective, while the other was a frog
> with just a random pattern of circles and half circles. Kind of
> looked like something you'd see on that special origami paper,
> actually, but it was a beautiful stamp!
>
> 4. The only stamps I've ever created using the negative image was my
> Petroglyph series in Nevada in order to make it look more like real,
> genuine petrogylphs. Since the real-life ones were created
> by "picking out" the desert varnish so the lighter-colored rock
> underneath could show through, it seemed logical that that's how my
> stamps should look! To avoid that horrible "block" look, I cut the
> stamp into a roughly oval shape (not a perfect oval, though, since
> when has a petroglyph been carved into a perfect oval?), and roughed
> up the background by scratching and gouging so the "rock" didn't look
> so smooth and perfect. (Again, I wanted it to have that real-life
> petroglyph look.)
>
> 4. Another really neat effect I've seen is where HALF the image is
> positive while the other half is negative. Kind of a "day/night"
> look to it since they're carved in opposite ways. Generally I think
> it works better on landscape kind of images than say, an animal.
> I've always dreamed of creating my own stamp like this but have yet
> to actually try it myself.
>
> And of course, you can use more than one of these strategies if you
> so choose.
>
> Good luck! =)
>
> -- Ryan

I am going to take a minute here to blow Sarah's horn without her
knowledge. She carved a wonderful stamp for "All Who Wander Are Not
Lost" that includes both positive and negative images. It is a bit
more difficult to carve these types of stamps but the results are
astounding. If you have not yet found this box, I highly recommend a
trip out to Sky Meadows.

Let us know what you think of the stamp.

Tammy

ADG #1





--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "rscarpen "
wrote:
> > Another new guy here...thought I'd ask if anybody chooses to use
> > negative image stamps (where the white space is the image) instead
> > of the other way.
>
> There are a lot of people who do that--particularly beginner
carvers
> since they're generally easier to carve.
>
> > I don't like the swath of ink surrounding the white image, but I
> > can maybe do some background work to make it bearable.
>
> I'm so glad you said that, because while there's nothing wrong with
> negative images per se, that swath of ink surrounding the white
image
> *usually* looks absolutely awful. It's great to see you've noticed
> that problem and want to do something about it! =) I've seen
> several ways in which people have handled the problem including:
>
> 1. Make a "frame" around the image. Thin lines near the edges of
the
> stamp will do wonders, but you can also make more exotic and
creative
> frames to. Or at least turn the edge into a "wavy" line rather
than
> the plain, straight ones.
>
> 2. Make sure that swath of ink isn't rectangular. For some reason,
a
> swath of rectangular ink looks so much worse than ovals, hexagons,
or
> even an irregular shape. With those other shapes, it looks like
you
> MEANT for it look like it does while the rectangular ones look like
> you just never finished the carving.
>
> 3. A random background pattern will work wonders on such a stamp.
> Someone suggested concentric circles (as if radiating from a moon
or
> something) which works well, but just about any pattern will work
> effectively. Two of my favorite stamps I've ever seen used this
> method. The one was of a turtle with wavy lines in the background
> representing the water--ever effective, while the other was a frog
> with just a random pattern of circles and half circles. Kind of
> looked like something you'd see on that special origami paper,
> actually, but it was a beautiful stamp!
>
> 4. The only stamps I've ever created using the negative image was
my
> Petroglyph series in Nevada in order to make it look more like
real,
> genuine petrogylphs. Since the real-life ones were created
> by "picking out" the desert varnish so the lighter-colored rock
> underneath could show through, it seemed logical that that's how my
> stamps should look! To avoid that horrible "block" look, I cut the
> stamp into a roughly oval shape (not a perfect oval, though, since
> when has a petroglyph been carved into a perfect oval?), and
roughed
> up the background by scratching and gouging so the "rock" didn't
look
> so smooth and perfect. (Again, I wanted it to have that real-life
> petroglyph look.)
>
> 4. Another really neat effect I've seen is where HALF the image is
> positive while the other half is negative. Kind of a "day/night"
> look to it since they're carved in opposite ways. Generally I
think
> it works better on landscape kind of images than say, an animal.
> I've always dreamed of creating my own stamp like this but have yet
> to actually try it myself.
>
> And of course, you can use more than one of these strategies if you
> so choose.
>
> Good luck! =)
>
> -- Ryan

Yeah, we love using Ryan's 50/50 negative/positive idea, and posted a
recent effort to the Files>Stamp Gallery area at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/letterbox-usa/files/Stamp%
20Gallery/happy_heart.gif

Hope you enjoy it!
Jay in crusty white snowed CT