Final Cat Prints

Still missing an epic title. Another project I should add to my previously posted to-do list is coming up with a title for this piece! I also still want to write a simple story in French to go along with the print. I mean...look at him...he's begging to have his snooty story told.



Edition of 5



Edition of 2

Yay! I'm happy with it and would like to try more multi-plate color work in the future.

Also, thanks to my best buddy Sara King I've discovered the magic of deviantart's portfolio feature. My page is kind of blah right now but I'm going to work on making it into a nice little portfolio: penelopeyocum.daportfolio.com.
I definitely want to make an image to replace to generic "Welcome" thing on the main page.

Oh and...I'm graduating tomorrow! I don't actually feel terribly excited but maybe it'll suddenly hit me tomorrow when I wake up. Or when I'm listening to the commencement speaker. Or when I'm walking up to get my diploma. Hopefully it'll sink in at one of those points.

Gestation, Color Separation, and Monotypes

Woooah big update. I finally scanned a few of my BIG prints. Unfortunately, even though I scanned them in sections and pieced them together in Photoshop, they are slightly cropped because there was just no way to fit all the missing edges onto the scanner.

"Gestation" measures 18"x24" and is printed on cream paper in an edition of 5, with 3 additional unique color prints outside the edition (two printed à la poupée, one with stenciled surface rolls).



à la poupée print



a print from the edition

Today I was super productive and printed my entire multi-plate color edition in one day! I didn't think it could happen, but it did. I just couldn't stop. The prints have to dry overnight but I'm going to check them out tomorrow, clean them up, and sign them. Still need to think of a clever title. But here are my final color separations.



Thalo blue plate (printed first)



Magenta poupée and Orange poupée (bright red mixed with process yellow)

And here is a little kitty...I call him "Le Petit Chat Sur Le Grand Fauteuil":



I've also been working on my Monotype project. Here are two of my favorites:





That's all for now. More soon! In the coming weeks I'll be adding many new prints to my Etsy shop.

Color Proofs

Last week I did a few color proofs for my multi-plate color print! For these prints, the first plate carried two colors, and the second plate carried one color. The letters at the top of the first plate were inked à la poupée.



(AHHH bad registration)





I love the vibrancy of the third one, and those are the final colors I'll be using. Today I made another proof using the same colors, this time adding more magenta to other areas of the plate by inking both the letters and the chair à la poupée. I also printed it on cream-colored paper, so I'll compare it to the other proofs tomorrow and see if I like that better. Tomorrow I'm planning to do at least one more color proof to experiment with the magenta poupée a bit more, then I'll print the edition!

Also, here's a monotype I did a few weeks ago. This was sort of my concept for the final project, but it's completely different now. I think I've determined that monotype isn't really my "thing" but I'm still pressing forward and working to make my final project as nice as possible.

Aquatint Progress

Using hard ground to block out areas that I don't want to aquatint:



After aquatinting and removing the hard ground:



Color separation of the two plates:



(Burnt Umber, Midnight Blue)

These aren't the colors I'm going to end up using, but it's the general palette (one warm, brownish plate, one cool grey-blue plate). I'll also be inking the words at the top of the brown plate à la poupée using a bright red magenta-type color.

Gestation and Aquatint Planning

Progress on my multi-plate color print (which is...not printed in color yet).

Today I spent a few hours painting hard ground on my plates to block out areas that I don't want to bite for aquatint. I also spent some time figuring out exactly where I want the aquatint tones, which plates they should be on, and how long I should bite different areas. I haven't really done much with aquatint, so this will probably be a challenge for me. Here's to hoping that I don't completely mess it up! Below is a photo of me attempting to plan the tones using ink washes. Aquatint test strip is close at hand for the sake of figuring out how long I would need to bite to get different tones.



I also decided that I will only be making two plates. The third plate would have had so little on it, I decided to switch a few things so I could just put those details on the second plate.

And, finally an update on my big print, titled "Gestation." The below print was created before the plate was finished, so the edition is slightly different. I'll get a photo of it eventually (and the two colored prints I made à la poupée). This print was conveniently tacked up on the wall, so I took the opportunity to photograph it.



Surface roll (dark red/brown) + stenciled surface roll (pink).

I'm a cat, I'm a kitty cat...

CAAATS! Below is the first proof of my multi-plate color print.



This print is of the first plate, which will end up holding just about all the linework and will serve as the key plate. There are two other plates: one that will primarily consist of aquatint (and spitbite), and the other with the letters that will be at the top (see previous post with sketches). Obviously the idea has changed slightly, but the general layout is the same. Today I did some more etching to add the swirly lines in the background (which are also in my previously posted sketches). I did a more complete drawing of the current layout, but haven't had a chance to scan it.

I haven't used spitbite on any of my plates before, so I decided it might be a good idea to test it out first on a small plate. I doodled up the little guy below and added spitbite to the shadow after biting the linework. There is also a little bit of spitbite in the upper sky part of the image.



Isn't he cute? And hypnotic?

Monotypes of things wearing boots

We're starting to work on our final projects in Monotype, and I'm slowly but surely figuring out what I want to do. Originally I wanted to create a series of illustrations for Edward Lear's nonsense poem The Scroobious Pip (click to read it at nonsenselit.org). I might still try creating an illustration or two as I imagined them, but I don't think it would be possible for me to finish all 15. So, I'm thinking of doing a more abstract interpretation. When I was thinking of creating the illustrations for the poem, I decided to make all the "animals" into household objects. In Lear's original illustration for the poem, he drew the Scroobious Pip wearing boots. I thought it would be fun to add that detail to the "animals" instead.



I would like to use bio-t transfers in my final prints and create collages using xeroxes and my own drawing directly on the plate. But below are some of my monotypes from last week, just messing around with what the objects might look like.







I'm also thinking of reworking this idea for my final Etching project as well (multi-plate color prints). It would be a lot more precise, so I could get all the details I want. I imagine the etching being less playful than the monotypes. Kind of serious but completely absurd. I want to create a nonsense alphabet as well so I can incorporate made-up words into the piece (maybe with a corresponding translation as the title). I think I'll probably use the chair for my etching piece--something ominous and decadent, with Victorian boots. I like the idea of contrasting nonsense with images that refer to the rigidity of Victorian England (when writers like Lear and Carroll were working). Anyway, concept sketch + some images that I'll probably be using for reference!


(Pink chair...I'm thinking 'No' on that)