Hierophant Green Keyline

We have the first keyline for the hierophant. I've printed it in a transparent green because I didn't want to cover the red lines on the plate in case I still need to cut and I can see I do...the monk on the left is supposed to be holding a snake. There is so much detail around him that he's hard to see. I think I will carve very thin white line around the snake so it jumps out a little. also the letter t in the title at the bottom disappears into the detail above it. I will carve just a little of the detail away from the "t" so that we see it more.

Now once I've printed my color plate (later today) I will carve away all of the sky, mountains and ocean in the background. Also the dark tiles will go away. I plan on printing those red so there will be no need to leave them in the keyline once I have the color plates carved. I will leave all the wood in the keyline until I have carved and proofed all the color plates. This is in case the registration turns out to be off or I don't like one of the color plates or I decide to add another color or for whatever reason I need/choose to carve an new one.

I Was Interviewed by Printsy.blogspot.com!

A couple of paintings, the first is an underpainting using a photo by Karin Jurick at Different Strokes. I'm doing it for one of finals in the abstract composition class. bear in mind this is an underpainting and it will change significanty before I am done... the othe is a male nude for this week's homework assignment in the abstract composition class. Yes it is done and it actually started out as a rendering and became abstract as I deconstructed it...




Hey - cool news, I was interviewed for the Blog

Printsy: Printmakers of Etsy

(http://printsy.blogspot.com/)

this blog is for printmakers who sell their works at Etsy.com (a sight dedicated to handmade and vintage merchandise).

Here is a static link to that interview of ME!

Printsy Interview - Patricia Phare-Camp (http://printsy.blogspot.com/2009/04/printsy-interview-patricia-phare-camp.html)

As the Emperor Turns

Almost finished editioning the emperor. Glad I broke off on the last steps when I did, I find that i'm getting too dense of cut marks on the keyline (black) block. I'm going to need to wipe the plate in some areas before I print it. I like to incorporate cut marks and I like the marks on the slightly lighter plates, I may cut some of the cut marks out or just wipe lightly so that I get blendy cut cut marks.

I will also need to go into some of the cards after they dry and lightly brush in some yellow on the turtle. My press kept loosening on one side, the side closest to me so it was easy to readjust, but the gauge didn't move so I couldn't tell the pressure was too light on the turtle side until I pulled the print.

When the pressure is adjusted just right there is a very slight resistance when it hits the beginning edge of the plate and it gives a very slight jump when the roller goes of the edge of the plate. This will still happen if one side has enough pressure but the other side doesn't so there was no way for me to tell when the odd side had loosened.

I think I'll have hubby Jeff break it down and give it a little maintenance when I've finished this edition of emperors. Since I have a lot of carving yet to do on the Hierophant I wont need the press for a week or two.

Revisions to Two Paintings

Old figure study on the left, new figure study on the right.
Old landscape on the left, new landscape on the right.

I'm Printsy This Week!

The above silk screen print Nora's Daffodils II was featured in Who's Printsy This Week. An entry in the blog Printsy: Printmakers of Etsy.

two new paintings

A Couple of Painting for My Abstract Composition Class

A semi-abstract nude using acrylic paint on 18x24" canvas board

A semi-abstract landscape using acrylic paint on 30 x 40" gallery canvas

the photo on the left is the reference photo
for the landscape - sorry can't post the
reference photo for the nude...;^}















I posted this unedited version of the figure painting because the purple storm clouds behind it are just so darned purdy...

Tarot Update

Priestess test with brownish lines stenciled in the library. think I will add another line in the upper left where it's a bit empty. I think a grayish violet would also work best in here to get a little contrast with the golden shades. Also think I will dry stencil just a little white in the library ceiling.

Emperor with chromatic gray glaze to mute the background. Used a stencil for this. The experiment with the cut marks didn't work as planned but I think I will try it on the press and make some plain keylines just to try and push the envelope a little. Although I wont experiment/mess with the plates until I've done an edition of these first.

I thought the firsts tests with the glaze were to light and tried variations of the glaze with more and more pigment. I like the darkest one best. We'll see what the adviser thinks...I also put gold on the sword and in some of the above in the turtle, the crown and/or the sceptor. there are touches of blue in the globe as well. I prefer last emperor with the dark background with only a little blue in the globe and gold in the sword.

New Figure Painting

New painting for my abstract composition class.

Hierophant Keyline Progress

I've been working on carving the keyline block for the Hierophant. He's card number 5 in the Tarot Major Arcana (trumps). I carve a little on the floor tiles (tiny details) then shift to the skeletons or columns (larger details). This is because the floor tiles are so tiny and detailed that my right wrist and elbow get sore. I can carve the larger details with my left hand but daren't try carving tiny details with the left. I'm making good progress with it. I just turn on the classic movie channels as I carve. I've seen those old black and whites a thousand times; I visualize the stories as I carve. No need to look away from my carving as I listen to Orsen Wells "we don't need no stinking badges..."

Went to a teaching workshop in Hunting Beach this weekend. It was wonderful. The beach was awesome, the food at the pier was delicious and I actually learned something. The Pearson Publishing workshop on student success covered how to recognize your own learning and teaching style, how to recognize your students' learning styles and how to adjust it for students who don't learn the way you teach. It was pretty valuable information. I picked up some cool teaching tools and books and I won a raffle prize, a T-shirt that says "it's in the syllabus" you teachers out there will wish you had one...

the shirt is one size too small but that will keep me motivated to continue losing weight (I've lost 20lbs since October [was diagnosed pre-diabetic, told to choose; lose it or knock many years off my life span]) anyway I now fit into those few pieces of clothing that I still had from over a decade (2 sizes) ago. Now that I'm into those few pieces (actually they are all I have to wear - the old sizes are so big they fall off) anyway the smaller shirt will give me something to actually SEE the weight loss as it gets looser and looser on me...Actually the shirt is my size but you know t-shirts, 1st washing and it will be a size smaller...

So what does all that have to do with my masters project? Well the only reason I'm reaching for a master's is so that I can teach at university level - so teacher's building blocks are valuable for the teaching I do now and the professoring I will do later. And the way I have lost weight is that I eat more food (more of the right kind) and work out - 5 days a week! Those workouts command a two hour chunk of my day -- that's 10 hours a week I'm not working on art! Believe me you its a setback in my studio time -- but, theoretically, it will make up for it in studio time in my extended life span. Oh and all this healthy eating doesn't mean I'm giving up chocolate, scotch or herb!!!! And of course there's always sex and metal...