here’s one I made earlier :: yellow owl workshop

I love the Yellow Owl Workshop so I was very excited indeed to hear that Christine and Evan were coming to London, for the launch of Christine’s new book, Print Workshop.

So excited in fact that I booked the afternoon of work and went along to Urban Outfitters in Spitalfields for the launch, and I’m very glad I did. As well as signing copies of the book, Christine was running a workshop on stamp-making.

We were each given a wooden block with rubber block already attached, and either a template, or a piece of paper and a pencil to create our own design. I opted for the latter, and stared at this blank sheet for a little while before inspiration hit me!

I finally settled on some little fish (which you can see just at the top right of the image above). Having drawn my design onto paper, I placed the paper design-side down onto the rubber and transferred the design by rubbing my fingernail over it.

Next, using a linoleum carving tool with a ‘v-gauge’, I carved the outlines and details of the design…

…like this:

Next, using a wider ‘u-gauge’ carving tool, I carved away the rubber from the areas of the design I didn’t want to appear in my final print – leaving the bits I did.

Once I was happy with the design, Christine recommended doing a test print, to check if anything was printing that I hadn’t intended to print.

On Christine’s recommendation, I actually decided to keep some of the carving marks, because they look a bit like water around the fish. I removed some of the lines closer to the fish though.

Then, stamp complete, I got stamping…

I had an absolutely wonderful time and now cannot wait to start making my own stamps. I already had the Print Workshop book, but the workshop really convinced me how simple some of the ideas are to bring to life. My lovely Dad bought me some carving tools for Christmas, and I’ve ordered my rubber block online, so as soon as that arrives, I’m good to go!

You might also enjoy:

• here’s one I made earlier :: the joy of stamps
• here’s one I made earlier :: screenprinting
• here’s one I made earlier :: cyanotype
• here’s one I made earlier :: sketchbooks

• yellow owl workshop, NYC (preciouseast.wordpress.com)
• http://www.yellowowlworkshop.com/  (yellow owl workshop website)
• http://yellowowlworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-york-more.html (yellow owl workshop blog post about the workshop)
• http://www.designsponge.com/2011/05/yellow-owl-workshop-diy-video-book-giveaway.html (Yellow Owl Workshop on Design*Sponge)
• http://www.whatkatiedoes.net/2011/05/print-workshop-with-yellow-owl.html (Urban Outfitters event on What Katie Does)