First Cat Print of the New Year!

Actually, this is my first artwork of anything for 2012.   I have been playing with text in artwork since taking a letterpress workshop at the Printmaking Center of NJ.  After a pronto lithography refresher workshop this summer, also at PCNJ, I realized that method might be a fun way to add text and print an image over the top in another medium. 

So..... I started out with this pronto plate after looking up the words "the cat" in several languages.  Can you spot how many languages are used?   Yes, the writing, done with a sharpie marker,  is backward on the plate...no easy task to accomplish.  But writing has to be backwards so when the plate prints the words come out the correct orientation.  The biggest surprise to new printers is that the image they made is reversed when printed.  I rolled up the plate in yellow etching ink and printed approximately twenty.  The plate still seems good so I will most likely be able to print some more.  You never know how long a plate is going to last.

Then I pondered an image to print over the writing.  I found a sketch I drew of this little guy snuggled up sleeping so I drew it onto a small piece of linoleum, cut it, inked it, and printed it over the writing.  Isn't he cute?  I think he will also find himself in other works I do this year!

If you would like to see other Cat Art, go to my Cat Image Gallery Here.

New Year ~ New Studio!



Work Station ~ Inking & Plate Prep





Etching Press & Work Station for Finished Work



Free Shipping through the New Year !

Perhaps you saw something I had at a recent craft show and needed more time to consider it. Well, no problem! I am happy to offer free shipping through Jan. 2, 2012!



Top of the World
Color linocut by Diane Podolsky
12 x 12 inches

 

Trees

Finally, I was able to get the Trees photographed and up on this site.  I had the idea for this piece for quite a long time before actually carving it as I played around with many different designs but finally settled on the ones you see here.  Aside from the end results, I posted an image of me taking a proof of the plate before printing it.  Usually I proof plates by inking them the same as I would when I print them, but because of the size of the linoleum block (12 x 18) and the potential mess of having to clean the plate to make corrections, I opted for the old fashioned method of taking a crayon rubbing to proof the plate.

If you are interested in seeing other variations of the Trees, or purchasing one, please click this link to go directly to the gallery page where they are displayed.

Happy Autumn

Harvest Moon; Original Linocut by Diane Podolsky
8 x 10 inches; $45.00

It's the Fall season! Bringing to mind  rust and gold landscapes, and crisp air.   Below are two of my favorite fall linocuts, and a demonstration of how I made the one with the houses and moon can be seen by clicking this link.

Sunflower; Original Linocut by Diane Podolsky
8 x 10 inches; $40.00

And, speaking of fall....the harvest!  Lots of great fall foods are waiting for you at your local farmer's market.  One of my favorites is the Collegeville Farmers Market where I will be participating several times this fall.

Note ~ The copyright text you see within these images is not on the actual artwork.

How Does the Garden Grow: By Day; By Night

Note ~ The copyright text you see within this image is not on the actual artwork. To see additional Landscapes or purchase these works, please visit the Landscape and Cityscape Page Here.

Beneath the Surface (Day); Original multicolor etching by Diane Podolsky
9 x 12 inches; $65.00



Beneath the Surface (Night); Original multicolor etching by Diane Podolsky
9 x 12 inches; $65.00



Cool Off - Summer Refreshments

Note ~ The copyright text you see within this image is not on the actual artwork.
To view or purchase these or similar works, go to my Food and Drink Page.

Cold One!; Original linocut by Diane Podolsky
5 x 7 inches; $15.00

Lemonade; Original linocut by Diane Podolsky
5 x 7 inches; $15.00



New Work - Any House is a Home!

Note ~ The copyright text you see within this image is not on the actual artwork. To view or purchase these or similar works, Click Here to visit the Landscape/Cityscape Page.

Happy Campers!  Original color linocut by Diane Podolsky
10 x 10 inches; $45.00



 

Another Day; Original color etching by Diane Podolsky
8 x 10 inches; $45.00

 

Finally - A Dog Print!



Good Dog! by Diane Podolsky
Original linocut with hand letterpress
6 x 8 inches; $15.00

Yes, it's about time.  But if you previously read my post How a Dog Like a Wine Glass, that explains most of my battle with trying to develop a "basic dog" image.  This is what else helped - the discovery of Text in art.  Finally, I took a letter press workshop at the Printmaking Center of NJ which gave me the idea to make a barking doggy print (which did not happen the day of the workshop).  

My very good friend, Nancy Barch, and I have spent many years pawning unwanted art supplies off on one another.  Recently, she found herself in possession of a set of lead type that she had no use for, so decided that I needed to have that.  When I saw the type face, it was exactly the font that would work nicely with my doggy print idea.  Problem - I don't have a press for the lead type.  But this particular print called for more of an uneven application of text rather than a clean letterpress printing so I hand inked and stamped the letters onto the paper.  The doggy image itself is a linocut.  I also made some with Yellow and black text.   Check out my Etsy Shop to see both.  Woof!

Intaglio Printmaking Terms and Brief Descriptions

Tools

Intaglio means "to cut into"   There are a variety of Acid -vs- Nopn Acid Techniques.  A printing press is needed to print all of these plates because you need the weight of the roller to pick up the ink that is deposited in the incised areas of the plate. This is the exact opposite of a relief print where a press is not needed because the ink lays on the raised areas of the image. 

Acid Techniques:  Etchings

There are many types of etchings that produce different types of marks.  The variety of marks the etching produces depends on the type of ground used, some of which are listed below.

Hard ground – produces fine lines

Soft ground – produces texture

Aquatint – produces tonal areas

Open bite- no ground used, large uneven areas of tone

Spit bite – acid brushed on plate in targeted areas to create tone in those areas with     no specific shape               

Sugar lift – a solution applied under the ground to lift the ground off a very specific area to create a shape which may be left for an open bite or covered by another ground such as aquatint, etc. to get a certain effect          

Zinc plate etched with a variety of techniques

                               

               

Non Acid Techniques:  Dry Point, Engravings, Mezzotints

Engravings-produce a fine line using a burin

Mezzotints-creates a tonal print using a burnisher.  Plate is worked dark to light.

Dry point-produces a line with a burr.  The burr is the key factor to the dark velvety line created in the dry point process. 

To see examples of how the above techniques look printed, Go to This Link