Shrubbery

Our third project was a wood block print technique. I started with a drawing that could be separated into different groups of colors. Brother Franson reccommended 3-5 colors/layers, but I thought it would be fun to do more, so I have 7. It wasn't fun to do more. I do enjoy what the finished product looks like, but next time I'll keep it a little simpler. After separating the drawing by colors, I scanned the images into the computer and in photoshop applied a mask that I then "carved" into. It was suggested that we keep in mind the direction we carve in as well as the texture we're giving this piece. Just as if I were doing an actual print, I carved away what I didn't want to be colored. After I finished carving all my layers, I combined them, attempted to line them up, and played around with color. My original idea for the color was more of an "Easter-y" color scheme, with green foliage, etc. After messing around with that for a little bit I decided to switch it up, and I liked that result better. I did not apply a texture to this piece, but I hope to employ that technique in the future. The title of this piece is "Shrubbery."

ALSO with the last couple of pieces I've printed off they've turned out a lot darker and more saturated than is showing up on the computer. I'm still experimenting with how light I have to make the image for it to print off nicely.