Progress on 8' x 4' print

Since being hired on Home Depot's freight night crew I feel like a slacker because some days I just dont feel motivated to come into the studio and print. I like my job and am grateful to have it because my bills couldn't be paid otherwise, but at the same time its difficult to work when I would rather be in the studio printing, doing what I love.

So after many weeks of not posting anything on my blog I finely have something to update! Sorry for the long wait...

Slowly I've been working on my 8' x 4' print. A print this size is more work then I originally thought, and has taken more time then I planned. Which shouldn't have surprised me because the first of art is: "Art always takes longer then you plan." Need I say more.

As I was getting ready to write this post, I looked for some pictures I took some time ago showing more of my process and how I prepared my sintra for printing, but I must have misplaced them.... So anyway. After I drew my image on the sintra with a sharpie marker, I took acrylic paint and painted the whole surface.

I paint it a color that isn't very distracting but dark enough that when I step back and squint my eyes I can get a feel for what the print will look like if I were to pull a test proof right then. Yet the paint is also light enough that I can still see the sharpie. The primary reason I do this is so that there is the contrast between what i've printed already and what I haven't. So I really like painting my matrix before I carve. If any of you were to try this let me give you a heads up; its easier to draw the image with sharpie first before you paint because i've found that the sharpie has a more difficult time going on top of the paint, it almost feels like the paint dries out the marker a little bit. So I like to get a good drawing done first before I paint it to make it easier on myself. Just a heads up. 

So now i've started to carve! I'm really excited to see it begin to take shape. Because of my schedule I haven't been able to dedicate as much time as I would like to on this piece, but 'slowly but surely' right? 

Here the first figure is carved and so is the heart and jar. 

I then worked on the trunk of the tree and the second figure. Eventually I began working on the back ground. It was a lot of straight lines..... 

It was a good day, this day I made some serious headway in my print! I love days like this! 

And this is where I am currently! I've come a long way in the past few weeks but still have a long way to go.