Halloween themed blocks by Andrea Lauren

A few carved designs I finished this past week to celebrate Halloween. Witching you fun holiday!

Harvest Mouse print by Andrea Lauren

Always trying out new techniques, honing my skill, and challenging myself to continue to improve.  Here is a recent print of a harvest mouse completed using various pieces of carved block.  Follow me on my Instagram account @inkprintrepeat

Handcarved stamps by Andrea Lauren

Using up the oddly sized leftover pieces of carving blocks has been great fun these past few weeks. Here is my Amsterdam row house scene which was made from lots of small, thin slices. It was fun to print out the first four houses on the right of the print below, then print two more in different colors to finish the design and add a nice balance of seven houses.

Handcarved cardinal block print by Andrea Lauren

Here is a recently shared multiple block cardinal print which is carved from a rubber eraser stamp blocks. It is nice to be able to work quickly to develop ideas which I will possibly return to later for more developed woodblock or linocut prints.  These rubber blocks, though, do have a fun, quick and easy quality to them which is rewarding.  I am working on a FAQ post and wanted to know if there was anything you were really interested in knowing about this process or my experiences doing this so far. Let me know if in the comments or send me an email: andrealaurendesign@gmail.com

Squirrels and Autumn hand carved stamp elements by Andrea Lauren

Creating some more Autumn themed design elements for my pattern library and new fabric collection. These Squirrels and extra bits were carved from rubber blocks and printed by hand for this art print which I shared on my Instagram feed.  I rarely share the process of scanning the stamps into the computer, but it always involves re-inking and printing the blocks in solid black on very thin paper from which I can get a consistent look and texture.  Cleaning up the elements can be time consuming if I have been in a hurry to carve the blocks, but I try to keep the handcarved look in the finished design.  Here they are pictured below.

Trees Block Print Pattern by Andrea Lauren

Sharing most of my printmaking and blockprinting work on Instagram these days. Here is a set of tree stamps carved from the leftover bits of other carving projects.  I have a big bin of these and it is nice to use everything up once in a while; also, finding creative themes which can work with a variety of odd shapes and sizes of pieces is quite rewarding.  These trees have become a pattern design in my shop in case you are interested in some Autumn themed fabric projects.

Robin's Nest block print in three colors by Andrea Lauren

Being a self-employed creative professional, it is crucial to stay intrinsically motivated. I have personally found that developing many side projects, learning new artistic skills, and finding creative outlets for my imagination to wander have been extremely beneficial to my happiness in this freelance career.  At the start of each month, or in between large commissions, sitting down to brainstorm some ideas and concepts for personal art making has been a great key to staying organized and motivated.  My Instagram account @inkprintrepeat is the place where I am sharing this journey of making art by hand as well as connecting with traditional techniques for making images--linocut, stamping, block printing. 

Here is a three color, hand carved block print design from a recent birds series. The spot color blocks were small shapes which were registered using the acetate sheet method and a simple jig. The print was hand rubbed onto mulberry washi paper using water-based block printing inks. 

Fall Leaves handcarved stamps by Andrea Lauren

It has been a busy month of freelance design commissions as well as keeping up with my own personal projects.  Continuing to create everyday, setting-aside dedicated time to making art work by hand, and sharing my process on Instagram has been a rewarding endeavor.
Here is a recent stamp project of carving autumn leaves and printing them by hand with a palette of seasonal colors.  Using these blocks for printing on paper is not the final step in their creative use, using the elements for new repeat patterns for my spoonflower shop and exploring the designs digitally is a rewarding creative expansion as well.

Global Talent Search Round Two

I was honored and excited to get to the second round of the Global Talent Search 2014.  The voting round has begun and you can vote with your email address for up to 5 of your favorites here.  The brief was to create a character for a child's t-shirt that could also become a book character.  Here's a look at my entry and some of the process for creating it.

Bird Silkscreen Prints Series Part 1 by Andrea Lauren

The bird block stamps I've recently completed have formed the basis of a series of silkscreen prints.  I've used a variety of elements to tie the series together in 4-6 color prints.  Here's a look at the Flamingo, Pelican and Swan prints.

 

Congregation of Gators by Andrea Lauren

I've been setting aside a bit of time each week to keep my hand carving lino skill in practice.  Working with the soft linoleum is fairly quick and allows me to play around with repeats and different layouts.  This gator came from my pattern library and I'm considered creating some one color screen prints in the style of the stack of gators.

 

Andrea Lauren Printmaking Cat-tet Linocut

Another linocut in my series of 'Musical Tales'.  This quartet inspired by a vintage photograph of a very dapper string quartet.  If anyone out there is familiar with playing in a music group, there are many interpersonal as well as musical dramas to enjoy in chamber music or garage bands.  The string quartet is one of my favorite ensembles as it offers the best of unity of tonal quality and unique individuality in the same musical package.  Anyway, it was fun to carve and imagine this cat-tet's arguments and successes as a string quartet.

Prints available in my shop.

Andrea Lauren Process 2/12

Pictures from around my studio in the beginning of February.  It has been fun to be finished with the busy holiday / restocking season and get back to work creating original pieces.  There have been many new linocuts, some large paintings, and I just started working on some reduction screen printing; it has all been highly rewarding.  Here are some photos.

 

Andrea Lauren Printmaking: Cat and the Fiddle

This new year has been quite productive so far--lots of new lino blocks carved and printed.  This Cat and the Fiddle came from doing some searching for companion works for the Owl and the Pussycat print.  It is always fun to see prints coming off the bock for the first time and the end results are always slightly different than I typically imagine them based on the carving itself; the hard work carving away, though, contains its own inherent rewards.  Here is the print.