Friday, September 11, 2009

Owl Etching!

Hey Bloggers! Today, I wanted to share a step by step process of what I've been really into lately: Etching. I went to the art store and bought a block of linoleum and some basic etching tools which were relatively cheap. Next I decided I wanted to do an owl print so I started doodling some owl designs which you can see here....

Once I settled on the design, I transfered it onto the linoleum. It gets kinda tricky here because you have to keep in mind that this carving will be a NEGATIVE IMAGE of your final picture. The other tricky thing to keep in mind is that what's white will be black and vice versa. Got that? I know, it makes my head hurt too! Anyway, once the design was transferred, I got down to carving out the linoleum with the gouge you see below:

Here is a close up of the linoleum. You dont really have to gouge that deeply into the linoleum but any mistakes you make are PERMANENT! Other than that, I found this to be very therapeutic and relaxing for some reason. You can just listen to music and just gouge away.

Once you're finished gouging everything, you can brush away all the little bits of linoleum and get ready for the fun part! With a small roller, you apply the paint onto the linoleum, press the paper to it (this part is called burnishing). And VOILA! Here is the final picture!

Once you see the image, it's a little bit of a surprise since it's facing the opposite direction. One thing you can do is to check your work in the mirror, especially if you're carving words. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this piece. I'm working on a few more which I'll post as soon as I finish!

10 comments:

阿恬 said...

it fun ~~ my friends also haved to do this

chromasketch said...

hey cool work!

Tooninator said...

great design and great carving.

willipino said...

i dig his pac-man eyes.

samacleod said...

So awesome. Great design. I've been dying to try this. Exciting to see someone do it. Are you going to do more??? You should post them if you do, and BTW I love seeing the process pictures too.

bjarkirafn said...

Wow, luv it! The design is beautiful and the texture on the paint looks also really nice! I look forward for more to come!

Anthony Holden said...

This is so fun!

chris chua said...

Celine, B, and Toonimator- thanks for the kind words, guys!

Willy-haha, I was totally thinking that too as I was carving them:)

steve-You should totally try it. It's relatively cheap and I find that it exercises a different part of your artistic sensibilities. Very fun!

Tim-Thanks for the advice. I'll be on the lookout for a leather glove!

bjarki-Good to hear from ya! How's your animation coming along?

Anthony- Thanks dude! I'm working on another one so come back soon!

Unknown said...

cant believe i just noticed this! awesome!!

k.mediani said...

Looks like awesomely fun!
Very cool texture created. And great design and carving--the owl feels so round.