13. Block prints

In this project, I had to create four block prints. They had to be the following: 1.) black/white 2.) hand colored 3.) alternate background 4.) my choice. To begin this project, I took a picture of myself, with lots of light contrast throughout the picture. Then I put the picture in black and white. I then had the image flipped, so that when it got printed it would be correctly sided. The image was printed, and following that I taped it on my block, and filled the backside completely with graphite. I then traced the black areas on the front side of the picture, rubbing the graphite on the backside onto the block. I then carved out the light areas of the block. After this I began printing. I did a few practice prints, and then did all of my final ones.

I was required to do a black and white print, but the rest I could more or less choose. For the hand colored one, I chose to use water color. I painted blue and orange in a random splatter pattern. I chose these two colors because I thought they complemented each other very well. Next, in the alternate background I chose to use a leaf pattern. I chose this because I liked the two colors involved (red and gold) and because it reminds me of fall, which is a season I like. Finally I chose to do a blue print. This is simple, but effective. I like the solid blue color.

These four prints turned out well in my eyes. I'm happy with the final result, although the process was time consuming. A few minor things that I would've liked to redo were a few tiny white specs on the black and blue print where there shouldn't have been. Also the alternate background print was a little splotchy. I think with a few redos, the problem could be solved. Overall I'm happy with these final products.