Illustration Friday "Golden"

"Rapunzel's Golden Hair"

Finishing up this week's IF post as well was getting ready for the "Uncommon Art on the Common" Art Fair on Saturday. I've spent the week measuring, cutting mats, bagging, framing, and organizing all my printmaking pieces for the show. Hopefully the weather will cooperate! My booth will be near Sawyer's Restaurant on Main Street in Goffstown. 

Illustration Friday "repeat"

This week's theme, "repeat," seemed a little challenging. I wanted to do something that wasn't the most obvious solution, so I went with the idea that little kids always want their favorite story read over and over "again…again…again."

"Repeat"

(Plus my friend's dog gets to make her debut in one of my drawings)

Otherwise my summer is flying by! During the last couple of weeks, I flew to Maryland for a visit with several friends, and a trip to the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) for some beach time. After driving back to New England, the rest of my college friends and I spent time in Connecticut for our annual summer reunion. 

 Laughing gulls on Rehoboth Beach

Now that my big trips are over, I'm focusing on getting artwork together for "Uncommon Art on the Common" which takes place on Saturday August 2nd in Goffstown NH. This annual show has a large assortment of different types of art from a variety of local artists. I've ordered more mat board and other supplies, so next week will be a busy one. I just hope the weather will cooperate! 

"Santa Barbara" print

Last summer, a group of my college friends met in California to celebrate 35 years of friendship. We started our trip in the beautiful city of Santa Barbara. I wanted to create a block print to commemorate our time there.

The sketch on tracing paper to be transferred onto the block.

Inking up the block with a blend of brown and blue.

Cutting around the tree tops was tricky.

Prints drying.

 The final stage of the block and the finished design.

This print ended up with 6 layers. Hope this makes the process of reductive block printing a little easier to visualize.

Illustration Friday "beard"

The other night I started sketching a man with a beard for Illustration Friday, but I didn't have a good idea of where or what I was going to end up with. Somehow he became a rather benevolent biker dude.

Trying to beat the heat today by sitting in front of the fan, and working on a few projects. I have 2 new prints in works which I will share in another post. It's really too hot and humid to move around too much. I did get out for a 4 mile walk earlier this morning, but even then it was pretty oppressive! I'm keeping an eye on my vegetable garden, and an hoping to pick my first summer squash soon. A lot of the day lilies have opened, so it is pretty colorful right now. Stay cool!