I’ve continued with my experiments in learning how to carve and print rubber blocks. Last week I carved two more and used them to test out a few new inks purchased after my initial work in the studio, along with a metal inking plate. What a difference it makes to use it, and have more colours to experiment with. Everything included in this blog post is rough beginners work that isn’t very good, but it’s helping me figure out how to use the tools.

I added a bit more detail to the pattern I carved last week and used it to test out layers of pattern in different coloured inks. I love the metallics, though I’m not sure how much I will use it in my work.

This test print is from a quick stamp I carved from a scrap piece of rubber and used it to exploring mirroring and repeating a single element. I put too much ink on sometimes, but the more I work at this the better I get a sense of how much ink is enough.

I did a few quick test paper cut designs from the paper I printed because this is where all this experimenting is heading eventually. Printed colour and pattern over a cut design.

I have two test prints waiting to be cut this week in the studio. I can’t wait to work with them, and also create more block prints to experiment with.