The Month of March

Oh March, how wonderful, busy, crazy, exciting, rewarding you've been! This is why I haven't created any new posts this month. But I'm glad to be back on a more regular schedule now. Let me tell you about March though.

So the first week of March I was working long nights getting everything ready for my art opening in Zion National Park. I finished printing everything, taking prints to the framers and taking my show to Zion where I got it all on display on March 13. As far as hanging my show, everything went great. It looked really good and I was so happy to finely see it all come together so well. 

My show is up until April 4th. I had friends and family come and support me, which I am most greatful. It's rewarding to have a project finished and be as successful as it has been. I'm greatful for the opportunity I had to be an artist in residence at Zion; it was a tremendous learning opportunity and experience and I would encourage everyone to search out opportunities like this one if you get a chance. 

Also, Steve Swift is an artist/musician/film artist who creates beautiful documentary style videos about artists. Steve proposed a project for Zion to document the artist in residence experience and process in a video. Check out his video as well as his other documentaries he has done on other artist. Some really amazing stuff. http://youtu.be/7f7zAD27eHI

So anyway, right after I got my show up on display in Zion, we went straight to work to get my wife's show ready to hang and diplay for her BFA Senoir exhibition. We worked long and hard to get everything the way she had imagined it. She was doing an installation piece which she had never done before so this was a new experience for us. Everything went together nicely but I wasn't there to see it on opening night. 

The third week of March was the start of Southen Graphics Council international, SGCI, PRintmaking convention in Knoxville Tennessee. I decided to save some money by driving out there which was a 27 hour drive one way. Crazy? Yeah but I like driving so I really enjoyed myself. I rented a car which only had 2700 miles on it (wow, brand new!) so it made the trip even more fun. So yeah, I spent the next few days in Knoxville surrounded by passionate printmakers like me. I met a lot of cool people and saw some amazing prints. I know you shouldn't compare, but boy there are some printers out there, my age and younger, that blow my work out of the water. It was inspiring! Now I'm pumped up to get back in the studio. I listened to some panel discussions, watched inspiring demos, and talked with some awesome people. I can hardly wait for next years print convention in Portland Oregon. 

When I got home it was Kayla's turn to leave. She had a ceramic convention in Providence Rhode Island for a week. I got my turn to stay home with our little girl and go to work. Seeing her pictures when she got home I could tell she had a great time too and saw a lot of inspiring things as well. 

So yeah, that was March. 2 show openings, 2 art conventions, and week of being mr. Mom. 

I'm excited this month is over, yet I had so much fun with everything that I wouldn't mind doing it all over again. 

Stroke of inspiration.....at the very last minute

Last week I was talking with Kayla my wife, telling her about the progress I'm making in the studio, but that it's going to be down to the wire getting all of my prints done in time. Then I mentioned that I'm really looking forward to finishing all these jigsaw prints. So far I'm loving the look of these prints, it's everything I imagined in my head but it's taking forever. So I'll be glad when they'll be done. Kayla then said something like "you should have done chine collé." (For those who don't know, chine collé is a process of printmaking where a thin piece of paper is adhered to the printing paper generally adding color to the print. It will make more sense as you read on)

 Well as soon as she said that this image popped into my head

This is a print done by Shannon (I can't read her last name) back in 2006 an old student here at SUU. It's hanging on the studio wall as a good example of relief printing but that night it was my lightbulb. The color you see in this print isn't ink, it's scrapbook paper cut out in those shapes, layered on top each other and the black key block image is printed on top. 

The wheels began turning in my head as I thought "how could I get this to work?" I thought I could do the same, cutting out colored paper to glue to my print. I didn't know if this way was going to save me any more time so that became my delima; take time away from the process I had already established even though it's taking a lot of time or spend time trying a new idea that may or may not work. If it works then my time was not waisted, if it doesn't work then I'd have to race even faster, push harder to get it all done in time. Oh the pickle... 

I took the gamble. Maybe it will pan out maybe it won't but I'll give it a try. 

As I worked on this experiment in the studio that night, a fellow student printmaker passed through the studio and we talked about what I was thinking. She concluded that this chine collé idea sounded good but with my deadline fast approaching I shouldn't loose focus now. Great, she was giving voice to my doubts and I began to agree with her. As she left, I turned to my experiment to begin cleaning it all up. But there was this nagging in my head and again I threw my hands up in there air and said "ta heck with it, I'm just going to give it a try even if it's a waist of time." (This inner drama was more dramatic in my head :D) 

Following my gut, against sound logic, I proceeded to experiment with this idea. This was my first attempt, just to see how it would work. What I did was instead of cutting out all the little shapes, coloring them then putting them back together, I outlined the shapes and painted them on one piece of paper so it would line up with the key block. 

Meh, first attempt. Not bad. Not great. The color was off, there was some color bleeding at the top and you could tell it was painted. That wouldn't bother me as much but my other prints are solid colors and this is more blochy. But it worked cause it gave me an idea how this could work. And it was a lot faster. 

Now for the real thing. No more waiting time. I mixed the colors I wanted, I painted all the shapes and got it ready for the final print. 

I sprayed the back with spray adhesive to get it to stick to my printing paper

I set up my key block as usual, in the jig 

I put the colored paper on top the print face down, glue side up, being careful not to move it around at all because the black ink will smudge the color if it moves. 

Then the printing paper goes on top and.... 

Presto! A colored print using chine collé instead of the jigsaw method. The colors are brighter then they were last time which I like. I think over all I'm quite pleased with this and I'm grateful I pushed through my doubts to give it a try. It was well worth the time experimenting. 

Here is a little before and after. Last week I mentioned that I didn't like how dark the colors in this print was. So I redid it and I like the results more. But let me know what you think? My wife is still partial to the dark red print when I like the brighter print. Opinions?

Well the moral of the story is: collaboration is good. Talking with my wife about my issues lead her to say something which lead me to a lightbulb moment. Also listening to my wife is always a good idea. "Yes dear" was the phase I was taught on my wedding day. 

The good, the bad and the ugly

With every print I come closer to success! ....until something goes wrong. Then it feels like two steps back after making a good step forward. But don't loose heart men, good things are on the horizon. 

There was some good that came my way, check it out

"Couples hike" turned out great! 

It is nice to see that after many an hour working on these prints, these prints start coming together. I couldn't be more excited about the color and how it turned out. One down, more to go. 

 

"Family sunset" also looks great. 

I struggled a bit more with this one. A few of the prints didn't register right so I'm going to have to print a few more colored prints to get the number of prints in my edition up to where I want it. That will suck up more time, time that I'm quickly running out of. But it will all be worth it in the end. 

Those were the good, the successes. now the bad. 

"How much further?" Was a flop. Bust. Dud.

When I was printing the colored print the reds didn't look so deep and dark, but once the black key image was printed, it toned the whole image down. So I'll soon be starting over working on lightening up the colors to make another great print. One step back.... 

Now the ugly. I'm not sure what happened but whatever it was, it wasn't right.  

Complete misfire. My two prints didn't line up. But that didn't worry me initially. I have been printing extra colored prints for this very reason. I printed more colored prints then I knew I needed cause not every print registers the way I want them to. So no big deal, just move this one aside and print the next one. Bla! Same thing. The registration was off but not as bad as this one. Third times the charm. Nope. Off registration again! Well I determined that this was a sign to call it a night so I could come back in the next few nights and figure it out. Two steps back....

With failure comes new opportunity to discover, and I feel a new idea is about to blow my way. 

Key block sneak peak

I feel excited that the end of my project is coming closer with every key block I finish. Which means that all the hard work, no sleep and late nights are finally looking like they are going to pay off. I look forward to the end of the next few months with sleep deprived enthusiasm that my artwork will look great and inspire everyone who see it. But... I still have a month left, loads of work to still finish so... back to work and enough wishful dreaming! 

Along those lines, I have some news for you! I now have a date to start sharing with everyone for my show. All of my completed prints will be hanging, ready to be seen, and ready to be purchased on March 14 2015. The show will be at the Human History Museum there in the park. It will be up for 3 weeks; enough time to plan a trip to the beautiful national park but not enough time to procrastinate. 

So forgo the mental note and write this in your calendars, 

"Get Connected" artwork by Chip Wiggin inspired by Zion National Park. March 14- April 5 2015. In the Human History Museum at Zion National Park. 

See ya there. 

Now here are some sneak peaks to some of my new finished key blocks. 

"How much further?" 

"Couples hike" 

"Family sunset" 

"Family sunset" in color. 

Updating colored prints

These last few weeks were busy (and productive). Yet it has to be that way or my Zion show won't get done. I've come to the crunch time! There are about 6 more weeks until March arrives. It's a little crazy to think that the year just started but in 6 weeks the first quarter of 2015 will be here. Scary thought. 

So last week I challenged myself to getting one colored print done each night. I was shooting to have 6 more done by the end of last week, bringing my total number of colored prints finished to 11. But I was just shy from finishing that last week and now currently I have 9 colored prints finished, ready and waiting for the black key block image. 

I wanted to catch you up on my progress so here they are, the next few images for Zion. 

"Brothers lookout" 

I don't know if these are going to be the final titles for these works, but these are what I'm calling them now to identify them. 

Also I got the key block carved out for this one I just haven't printed them together but here is what "brothers lookout" looks like all carved out.

"Decent" 

"Family sunset" 

"Couples hike"

"You're almost there!" 

"Celebrate" 

Last weeks challenge was printing, this weeks challenge is carving. I'm well on my way for the week being half over. I have 3-4 prints all carved and are just waiting to be printed. So there's the hook to keep you guys coming back for more. In a few weeks there will be a new post with finished prints to see, so stay tuned. Maybe subscribe to my blog by putting your email address in the bar on the top right of this page. That ensures you won't miss out on anything! Otherwise come back and see what I've done, ask questions, leave comments, share this with friends. Until next week. 

A simple way to register a print

When you're creating a print with multiple colors, it's sometimes frustrating when the colors don't match up. There are a few ways to register an image so after each pass through the press every color lines up where it's suppose to be. 

Someone asked me recently how I got my images to line up so well, so here is my response to you. This method of registering I do with my work, I discovered after seeing someone else's printing video. I was watching a video created by Tugboat press where they were filming a demo, and as I watched them demo a print I noticed this strange stick thing they used to aline the print and paper. I watched the clip a few times to get a better understanding of what they were doing with it, because they didn't explain it in the video and then to the best of my abilities filled in the blanks. 

This method of registering has an official name but I don't remember it now. (Maybe one of you know) So this is what I came up with. 

The wooden one was the one I created first. What I noticed from the video was that there were two grooves on this stick, one for the board/matrix you were printing from and then the other for the paper. I created this wooden jig one night while I was creating some frames for an upcoming show. (This part you'll have to use some imagination, I don't have pictures sorry) So I bought a stick of poplar, then on a table saw I raised the blade 1inch (and a little bit)  just enough to cut halfway through the stick, ran it through the table saw then flipped the stick and cut halfway through the stick again to get that notch cut out that you see. The reason I raised the blade specifically 1inch on the first cut was because that's how much boarder I wanted around my print. You see, depending on how wide the spacing is is how much paper/boarder is around your print. In comparison you can see in the second register I made is 2inches. I also drew a 1.5inch mark. 

I didn't have access to a table saw the second time around so I made this second one in a different way. Warning, in a way this way was easier and harder at the same time. I'll explain. I made this one out of sintra, a plastic material like pvc pipe but rolled out in a sheet. I have lots of this around cause I get it out of a dumpster. (Yeah free stuff) so I measured out two "L" shape pieces. One 1inch and the other 3inches, so I could glue the 1inch piece on top of the 3inch piece and still have a width of 2inches. Makes sense, simple enough. But it was hard to make sure my pieces stayed true. That is the important part to this system, making sure the "L" shape is a perfect 90 degrees. Try as I might, mine is still not as true as I wanted so I have to fudge my prints a little bit when I print but for the most part it does the job. That's why creating my first one on the table saw was a little easier because the machine made my cuts true. And yet.... My wooden one isn't true either because wood has a stupid tendency to warp. So when I get around to making a 3rd one it will be the charm. 

Once it's created the rest is pretty simple. It's important to remember that when you are using this method you really have a limited choice for the boarders around your print. Unless you create multiples jigs with varying widths, you are stuck having the same boarder thickness. 

Before I print I tear my paper down. I add 2inches to the dementions of my matrix (in this case because I'm using the 1inch stick. 2inches, 1inch for either side if my print). Once my paper is torn then I begin printing. You set your matrix in the corner of the jig and hopefully it's slides right in snugly. If your jig and matrix don't match up because the agles are off then there will be some play. When this happens to me I will make a visual decision. You know how sometimes you can visually see that something is croocked? If my matrix has some wiggle room in the jig I will either line my matrix up with the top of the jig so the matrix and the jig are flush together on the top or on the side, whichever way won't look visually croocked. Hope that tip helps. 

Once the matrix is where you want it, then carefully put the corner of the paper in the corner of the jig. Holding the paper with my right hand (my dominate hand) I will angle the paper on a steep angle to get the corner and the top lined up guided by my left hand so the paper doesn't cause the jig to move. The first few times you try this you will probably push the jig with the paper so it's off registration, that's why I angle my paper at first so there is no premature transfer of ink to the paper. It takes practice, good luck. Once the paper is alined in the corner and the top I lay the paper down and once I know it's down, it's kind of past the point of no return cause I won't want my paper to move now, I put my left hand directly on top the paper so it doesn't move. 

At this point you don't want anything to move. So with my hand holding my paper in place I remove the jig. Yeah, this is important, chances are your jig is larger then your matrix so you can't roll that through the press so you have to move it and set it aside. But as long as your hand is there, there is no worries cause nothing moved. Roll it through the press and bam! A sweet looking print. 

Mine is still in progress so it's not sweet yet. But the registration looks great. A good example of a successful print using this registration method was this print, 

 

"Hallothankmas" this was one of the first prints I finished with this jig and whew.... It looks pretty sharp! 

Hope that inspires you, happy printing! 

Playing on the river

Happy 2015 everyone!

Another year, another chance for amazing things. I'm really looking forward to this year. I have been working on my goals for this year and am really excited to get to work. But first and foremost, working on and finishing this Zion residency. 

The deadline is coming up quick, about 2 more months, and I have a long way to go before my pieces are ready to hang. 

My next piece in my series: playing on the river. 

This is my 3rd print I've completed and if you have been following along since the beginning of my residency journey, you would be thinking to yourself right now "just his 3rd one? Isn't he doing 20 prints for this project? Man he is really behind." You would be right, I am still working on 20 images for this project but what I'm really behind on is keeping my blog updated. I finished this print a little over 3 weeks ago and only now getting it uploaded to my blog. So sorry for the long wait. 

The color went really smoothly, I'm beginning to really love this jigsaw method of printmaking. 

Once the colored ink had a chance to dry for a while, and I had a chance to carve the key block it was time to put the two together for one beautiful image. There is a beauty in just the black and white. Ah I love printmaking! 

And yet the image feels more complete and visually pleasing in color. It's understandable, Zion is such a colorful place. 

Well like I said, there are many many many more to come (17 to be exact) so stay tuned. Also feel free to sign up to receive my blog posts by email by subscribing to my blog. If you scroll up to the top of my blog on the right side bar you will see my website link, and under that is a line where you can enter your email and then automatically every time I post, it will come to you in your inbox. Pretty cool technology. 

Well until next week!