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Saturday, December 15, 2012

First Woodcut
















I've made my first woodcut! For the past two months I've been taking a relief class at the Highpoint Center for Printmaking. While I'm familiar with the basics of blockprinting, I've always worked on linoleum in the past and really wanted to learn to work with wood as a carving block. It was nice being able to try various kinds of good quality carving tools before purchasing the ones that work best for me. Good sharp tools cut through wood like butter and honing them all them time hopefully keeps them that way. I also learned to make a really clever registration system for either reduction or multiple plate printing. Before starting on my larger plate, I decided to make this year's Christmas card a two plate woodcut. Somehow I felt more comfortable working on a smaller scale, with less precious wood (found birch plywood) which allowed me to work more freely. So, here is this year's Christmas angel. Happy Holidays!