phase 5 - have the fortitude to try again (and again, and again ;) )

new collage! (!!) - 27 x 40"

I think it's funny how my flowers are almost the same color scheme

A very busy week here in Artlandia!
Got the collage together just in time to meet a submission deadline (fingers crossed!)

...but then I look at my studio covered in parts with
dozens of blocks out, and I sort of can believe it

I was feeling pretty tired and started wondering "how many blocks/pieces is this anyway?" (uh oh -will not be asking this again) It turns out, at my best count, to be 20 blocks and 42 pieces (oy! waaaaay more than I thought...)

My senior project included making a faux Medieval manuscript...
and lots and lots of practice writing script. 

carved  and printed the inverse raven this week - I think they were meant to be a pair.
 I've been calling them Huginn and Munin - Thought  to keep Memory company and vice versa.

On the left is the branch where I've used color pencil to
match the background, on the right is a branch with out toning

One thing I find surprising about this piece (in addition to the quantity of blocks/ pieces involved) is the way an efficient process (printmaking) became something excruciatingly inefficient - for example the gray in the background had to be matched and filled in around each piece because the background color is a different shade of gray than the prints. In overlapping objects the background was filled in to match - like filling in the tree branch around the ants or the paper tone around the city
[Self #1 asks Self #2: Why? Why.]

 ...so all those little gaps in the crown are colored in to match?
O yes  (below my finger is toned, above is the background paper)

close up of the ants -  drawing around them so they
don't stand out from the trunk 

color matching the spaces between the buildings
with the pretty  marbled paper I made 3 weeks ago :)

I also made my first visit to Zea Mays Printmaking as a member ( :D!). I did an orientation and then printed, printed, printed. The final tally:

skulls 8
face 7
city 4
tree trunk 5
tree leaves 7
crown 3
plant heart leaves 3
ravens (R) 4
plant round leaves 3

and 5 "seconds" that I saved to test things out on.
Grand total: 44 good and 49 in all (whew!)

It's exciting to see how they turned out using a press instead of a spoon! And now what to do with them... ( Hmmmmmm :))

I wonder whether something like "Walk, Knave" could be an edition because of the amount of drawing and number of pieces? - I keep thinking of the number of blocks in things like the Triumphal Arch of Maximilian I (195), the Nuremberg Chronicle (645),or 19th French scenic wall paper (Zuber's archive is said to contain more than 100,000 blocks :o ) ...and I feel like I've only just started with the blocks...

In terms of phase 5 and trying again, even though the piece as a whole would be hard to reproduce, having the blocks made it easier to make changes and try again within the piece (like when: the ants need to be blue instead of red, the raven a shade purpler, the city printed in gray not black, etc...).

Sometimes, I find myself annoying.

Can't believe the leaves are starting to turn - I'll miss the flowers.

Luckily, the lovely feline assistants are here to help.