Inky Badger

Early start to the summer hols here at Inky Towers due to chicken pox 🤦‍♀️ Making the most of the sunny weather (and time between nursing duties!) by creating in the garden and enjoying the fishies and the flora.

Is summer finally here?

🪰🪰🪰 CMFlyK done 🪰🪰🪰

I'm not going to lie, getting the registration right for the layers and stenciling nearly melted my mind... but it worked!

Looking forward to experimenting with this technique some more and using a linocut/spray paint combo again, lots of ideas brewing!

Happy weekend!

Dream big... the swirly fishy delights in this little cat's mind only really come to life when he dares to dream.

🐦 Next on the block... Wren will I see you again?🐦

🦁 More paint tests using a mini block I made years ago - checking safe wash ink dries over MTN spray paint... so far so good!

Sneaky studio shot! 🤩📸 Happy Friday!

Spray paint beetle tests... only had fluorescent pink in🤘 Experimenting with ways to add colour, reduction printing really scares me!

Finally got round to signing and numbering some of my prints today... one step closer to opening my shop.

😺 Lines done, ready for transfer 🐟

I'm having one last ditched attempt to find the right image transfer method for me. I've spent so much money and time trying to get this vaguely right!

So far I have tried...

* Carbon/graphite - very time consuming for complicated pieces
* Acrylic medium and paper print out - peeled and cracked away during carving!
*Acetone - the image bleeds and it's patchy so not great accuracy
*Citrasolv - flat out didn't work

This time I'm trying sticker release paper with acrylic medium 🤞🤞

A couple more shots from test printing CMFlyK. Clearly I need to follow this up with an RGBee! 🐝

I've not used Procreate before so I've been having a tinker with it for the line work on my Dream Big design here. I like it... I think!?

For some reason I really struggle with drawing white on black, so it's helped loads with the little cat in the middle.

I'm still itching to grab a pencil and eraser though...

Old skool 🤘

🪰 Nearly there with this one 🪰

🥜 🌰 🥜 Shop coming soon! These guys will be available as a limited edition... when I've printed more! 🥜🌰 🥜

🥜🌰🥜 Squirrels on masa paper with coloured mulberry paper nuts 🥜🌰🥜

🐿️Lovely bit of squirrel!🐿️ Ready to go! In other news, 3 things I learnt while printing yesterday...

1) Lino prints are like pancakes, the first one never works, don't use my nice paper for the first 1-2 prints.
2) Slow and steady inking my block, thin layers, don't get impatient.
3) I forgot to eat and go to the toilet yesterday. Printing is definitely "my thing" 😁

After a very rainy school run Mr Sun is out here. I'm making the most of this tiny glimpse of spring printing hares and drinking tea. I 🖤 Thursdays.

I was given The Wanderer by Peter van den Ende for my birthday and I am just obsessed with the illustrations. Here's a doodle I made after a good goggling session with the book. Feeling very inspired by things emerging from the dark and being mesmerized by the light... food for thought.

🌝🐰 After a bit of trial and error I got this print in two colour ways using light grey and sea grey mulberry paper. So relieved it worked! 🐰🌝 Swipe for close ups.

🐇🌙 Testing out some lovely new Thai mulberry paper to colour up the moon in this one today.

This print on metallic tissue paper is still wet after weeks, I'm now abandoning the idea of a shiny moon! 🌝🐰

Fine liner doodle of a sweet, gentle little dog I used to know called Sasha... think she was a whippet cross 🥰 🐶

🪰🪰 In progress... soon to be a fly on the wall🪰🪰

🐇🌘 Some more test prints, this time on rice paper and playing with different methods of adding metallics. The first is gold tissue paper, the second is rose gold foil.

No registration used so the foil moon is floating off to the left 😄

Definitely prefer the tissue paper, both in terms of how easy it was to do and the finished look. The foil pulled off and went patchy when the block was removed.

I drew this in March 2023 and it's finally ready for test prints!

2023 ended up being a very challenging year for so many reasons and being creative was almost impossible, but, new year, new space, new prints. Here we go!

It's Thursday, which can only mean one thing, I'm back in my studio! Hurray! Now let's get this moon wrapped...

At work today I found a message from my other half in my notebook... never a truer word 🥰 It made me happy and sad at the same time.

Found a print of this golden oldie in a pile of paper... QUACK QUACK!

First proper session of the year and I am loving carving this one, the curves and connecting lines are really satisfying to do, but I'm not going to lie, the moon is turning out to be a bit of a pain in the bottom! Acetone transfer failed me here so a lot of free styling required, not something I usually do or feel comfortable with but.. gotta push through the self doubt! 😬

Can't wait to get printing... realised my printing stuff is still in a storage container though 😭 So, today I'll start on this block instead and have a printing frenzy later!

I used acetone and a lazer print to transfer the image. Not a massive fan of this way of doing it tbh, not enough acetone and the image doesn't shift, too much and the image washes away. Flippin heck!

Getting my new corner sorted, not too shabby! I'll take it! 🌞😉 Happy Friday everyone!

I've been away from creating for months 😔. We've been doing some house renovations, the sort where you cook on a camp stove in your living room. It's nearly done, I have my tools back and a desk and picking up where I left off with this one!