Prints and the New Year

 2026! Happy New Year!

It's been awhile since I posted here, and updated the new projects that I've been working on.

As always the holidays were busy, and I started early to get my Christmas cards designed and completed.  My family and friends anticipate a new design each year, and some collect the snowmen cards I frequently create. This year I included a Blue Jay, and stayed with the all blue color scheme.

A variation colored with Prismacolor pencils.

The final stage of the printing plate can be used again to print the black outlines. Then when the ink has dried, I can add watercolor or colored pencils as a variation of the original.

I've also been working on another project, inspired by our vacation last summer to North Beach, NH. The houses in the photo are on Boar's Head, a little neighborhood sticking out into the ocean. On the other side of Boar's Head is Hampton Beach.

The image below is the Soft-Kut block that I started with.

The first color was a light gray layer of Akua ink, printed 16 times by hand, on Rive's BFK acid-free paper. You can see the drawing underneath, because I used a Sharpie marker to outline the pencil drawing on the block. The Sharpie keeps the drawing clear after repeated color layers and cleanings.

The next layer of ink was the blue sky.

Here are the final stages of the printing plate (below)

Below are the last two stages of the print.  

I'm still printing the final layer on the remaining prints in this edition of 16. Because of the multiple layers of ink, they will be drying on the rack for a while!

Have a happy, healthy new year! Best wishes!

Jane

Great Egret Block Print

I have recently finished a new reduction block print of a Great Egret. My daughter took a photo of one of these beautiful birds while walking along the ocean in the"Southie" area of Boston. Even with jets flying overhead to land at Logan Airport, this bird seemed unperturbed.

The Great Egret is a large showy white shorebird with a yellow bill and black legs. Not to be confused with the much smaller Snowy Egret, which has a black bill.

I started with a cropped image of the photo, and transferred it onto an Easy-Kut block. I then outlined the drawing with a thin Sharpie marker. All the areas that will remain white are carved out first.

I printed  light layers of blue and tan to start. The yellow bill was printed using a stencil to keep the ink only in that small area. 

I also used stencils for the ochre color in the water.

Lots of textures!

The ochre color was covered with another layer of darker blue. The rocks and the seaweed were defined by a darker brown, after I carved out all the textures.

This is the finished version. You can probably guess that I also cut a stencil for the leg. The black eye was applied with the wooden end of a paint brush, dipped in ink.

The image is 6.5" x 9, and I'm framing it in a 14" x 16" black frame with a white mat.

Unmatted prints from this edition will be on my Etsy shop soon! 

Little Bird Prints

 I've been working on some new projects in my studio this month. Currently, I am printing a series of three popular birds that are frequent visitors to the yard and feeders. I chose a black-capped chickadee, a tufted titmouse, and a slate-colored junco as my subjects. They have similar colors, and are about the same size in real life. I started with the chickadee print, then realized I should have worked on them all simultaneously, so the the color layers would be better matched. For the other two I'm doing it that way.

Above are the three plates lined up together.

These are the chickadee prints. I still have one more darker layer to add to this print.

Junco stage 1

Junco stage 2

Titmouse stage 2

I'm ready to add the red to the berries next. I'll use a small roller, and try to keep the ink only on the berries, as the red is hard to cover up if I inked the whole plate.

The foliage has been beautiful this Fall, and has lasted longer than usual, I think. The intense reds have faded away but the oranges and golds have been stunning! I can't resist taking pictures when I've been out walking around town.

With all the restrictions around Covid19, It is such a pleasure to get out and enjoy nature! 

Best wishes!

Jane