ArtUps!: Time for an UPDATE!

Sorry for the delay of this post! I had it in my drafts because I needed to add the photos!

Summer has been busy and so has the Flying Horse Press. Our last visiting artist, Nathan Redwood, left us with a complex print to make. We have been working on a reduction woodcut that has taken for-ev-er! So far we have 7 or 8 colors and still have 3-6 more to go. It has been quite a job, but the biggest challenge has been registration. Good registration is needed so that each layer of color lines up. I found a good description online-

"Reduction woodcuts are what the name implies: they are prints made by gradually reducing the printable areas of a wood block. This process involves working with a single block (matrix), printing a color, cutting more of the block, printing this new reduced image over the first print, and so forth depending on the number of colors the artist wants to print in a single image. The key to successfully making a reduction cut is a little planning and careful registration"

Nathan is an acrylic painter and wanted us use one of his paintings for the print. He didn't want/need the colors or forms to be an exact replica of the painting."

The print that the members of the FHP will get will be made from an image Nathan has created specifically for them. Collagraphy, screen printing, and woodcutting will be used in this print. Nathan has a signature brushstroke that they are trying to emulate with the screen printing. A graphic designer will be scanning in the image of the brushstroke and breaking it down in to approx 10 different layers of color. Those 10 or so layers will be made in to screens. By using this many screens for one stroke, you can see how this will be very dimensional and realistic. It will look as though Nathan actually painted each of the prints. An example of someone who uses this technique for his prints can be seen here.

I will leave you with some photos of Nathan's visit...