Block printing with fluorescent pink ink

Finally trying out the fluorescent pink printing ink I got last Christmas! Yes, for a squirrel’s earmuffs – what else?!

Several things I wanted to do on last week’s Art Practice Day:

  • Block printing,
  • A pattern with white-on-dark ferns,
  • Finally trying out the inks I had wished for, and received, last Christmas i.e. almost one year ago!

Not all of it worked, and not quite as planned, but the result being a cute squirrel – who would complain? ;)

On the actual day I had selected for art practice, I actually prioritised sending pitches to more publishers (which I think was the right thing to do!). So I did not really have much time to experiment. Also, I wanted to make a repeating pattern the “analogue” way, i.e. cutting and pasting paper, which was obviously too ambitious for the time I had 😅️.

And transferring the sketch to the block did not work as I usually do, i.e. using transparent paper and a 2B pencil. Now I realise that it was a mistake to stain the block first (which you do to better see what you are doing when carving), as normally the pencil gets “absorbed” by the vinyl’s porous surface, but the ink seals the pores, I think!

Anyway, it still allowed me to reconnect with block / stamp printing :)

And I did get to using the fluo pink ink, the one I most wanted to! Two days later I did a stamp to hand-print envelopes for the holidays greetings cards I’m sending this year. These feature a squirrel with warming earmuffs (drinking a hot beverage with their friend the reindeer 😊️), and I rather spontaneously decided to make a stamp of the squirrel, and do their earmuffs in fluo pink :)

I also tried again to put the ink to the block with sponge pads, and was not convinced (though now that I’m seeing the picture – the brown squirrel – I’m not sure why, so I’ll have to try again!), so ended up doing the “proper” way, with an ink roller (brayer)

This week there was no Art Practice Day due to holidays prep, travelling and celebration! At the moment I plan to do one next week, but I’m not sure it will work; as usual the blog post may only come a bit later (or I may skip it ;)).

Stay tuned for further next art practice adventures! Also, if you’d like to hear about the week’s topic beforehand, as a prompt for your own practice, I’d be happy to hear from you 😊️