This week marked the final round of testing for the Pool piece — all that was left was printing the last layer. Since I’d already learned (the hard way) that I’d need a new guide to align everything properly, I came in calm, focused, and ready. I felt good about where things were heading, and I was genuinely excited to refine the process ahead of the official print run.
I came in with a friend — we were catching up on the way, and he has another friend who works at the studio, so he popped in to take a look around. He didn’t stay long, though; I was laser-focused on getting this piece DONE.
I set everything up: dry prints, the matrix for the third layer, tools, and ink. Originally, I’d designed the final layer as a very light blue. But knowing how transparent it might look on a dark background, I decided to test with plain white ink first — just to see how it would react when layered.
I printed three variations, each with a different level of ink saturation. Here’s how they turned out:
I was so happy with the color — no need to add blue at all! The middle option was my favorite; the way the colors layered and interacted felt just right.
I did notice some texture left behind from this layer that I think I’ll need to clean up. Normally, I like leaving behind a bit of that raw woodblock texture — it gives a nice handmade feel and shows the printing method. But in this case, where the piece is really graphic and clean, the rough edges are doing more harm than good. I’ll plan to clean up the matrix before I do the next round of printing.
Honestly, once I pulled the third layer, I was amazed. The depth and light came together beautifully — almost magically. Sure, there are some dirty bits on the edges and my layers still need better alignment (my studio mates keep reminding me, haha), but those are exactly the kinds of things I can now fine-tune with confidence. The colors are working. The concept holds up. That moment when all the layers finally come together — even in test form — is one of the most rewarding parts of printmaking.
With that part done, I moved on to repairing the board from layer two. Remember how I lost a square last time? Well, turns out even more little bits had chipped off. I used wood putty to patch everything up, being careful to keep the surface level — not too smooth, so it sands evenly without flattening out too much. It’s a tricky balance, but it’s ready for the next phase.
BeforeAfter
So! With tests wrapped up and boards repaired, I’m finally set to start the official print run for this piece. But that’s a story for next time.
I wrapped up with some good studio chitchat and headed home a little early — proud, satisfied, and very ready for what’s next.
Today was Brazilian Valentine’s Day, and all I wanted to do was quickly go in, run the next layer of color, and get back home to enjoy the afternoon with my boyfriend. But things are never this easy with printmaking, right?
I started by getting my dry prints of the rack and getting the second mask attached to the top of my board. The dry prints looked gorgeous, and although it was a bit tricky, I figured out a way to secure both sides of the mask together with tape so they wouldn’t move so much when placing it down – since both sides of the mask were only attached to the top, it was pretty flimsy. I taped up the bottom section where the mask hangs outside the design to help keep everything in place.
I did not need to ink the whole board for this layer, since I was printing only the center section of the board. I used a narrow roll to only ink the desired stripe.
Inked board with mask placed down.
Detail of the missaligned layers
After a few pulls, I was confused. I kept getting a weird result that I could not make sense of. Even though my guide was improved from the second layer to this third one (with the raised corners to help secure the paper in place, read more about it in the last post), I was getting the last two layers aligned (2&3) but not the first. This was odd because the latter one should be aligned with the first one, if I am now using the guide properly, or with none of them, since I have not been using it correctly/I have been working on improving it along the way. So the big lesson is that the guide is still incorrect and needs to be redone and that I need to be very careful in the printing process of multiple layers and right down all the details of the pulling process like the placement of the which corner in which order, the direction the board is being press through and such.
BeforeAfter
Printing the first four pieces and realizing my guide was completely off was frustrating in itself, but what made it even more difficult was how hard it was to communicate with others about it. I was struggling to talk things through with my peers and with Bebeto, the studio manager and printmaking master. I found it hard to stay focused on my work, to fully process the alignment issues, and to express what I was thinking or needing. It became a kind of emotional labor, and I felt once again the challenges of working in a shared studio space.
Talking about the art-making process is hard. Trying to explain what was going wrong or to share my hypotheses with Bebeto was mentally exhausting. Writing it all down here hasn’t been easy either. It’s always a challenge to decide what details to include, what to leave out, and how to describe things clearly without it turning into a confusing mess. Honestly, the first draft of this post read like a 14-year-old’s diary entry—but hey, it’s all part of the process. In the end, this is good practice and a fun way to stretch the big thinking box.
Besides all that was going through my mind, during the fourth pull, another problem emerged; one of the squares on the board came off, messing up the design. To make it worse, I was so scatter-minded that I misplaced and lost the piece. All that was left to do was to stop the printing process for the day and patch up the board with some wood putty.
I decided to keep the two leftover pieces unprinted as color guides for the future.
I was feeling a little down, so I sat down with a cup of coffee to take a break. Absentmindedly, I started carving a different project I’ve had waiting to be finished. As I worked, I overheard a lively conversation between a few older women in the studio. They’re from a generation quite different from mine, and I loved listening to their stories and experiences. One of them used to be an illustrator for a magazine that the other adored—and got in trouble at her Christian school for reading it. Moments like these are what I treasure about the shared studio experience: hearing about different artists’ perspectives, their adventures, who they’ve met, where they’ve been, and what they’ve studied.
However amused, I was still hungry, cold, and tired. So then, I called it a day and enjoyed the rest of the evening with my partner.
I’m part of a local figure drawing group, here in Florianopolis (Brazil). They are called Modelo Vivo Floripa, and you can learn more about it on their Instagram page: @modelo.vivo.floripa
I started going to the meetups back at the end of the pandemic, when I had just moved back to the island. I had been attending figure drawing meetings in Berlin and Philly before that, and so I wanted to continue the practice. I was also looking to make some new friends after losing contact with almost everyone I used to know here.
This group meets every week and hires a freelance model (mostly not professionals) to pose for us for around 3hrs for us to practice live drawing. It is a great practice and I was going in weekly for over a year! I improved my techniques, I met many great artists, and I made lots of friends. However, when I started taking the woodblock classes, I found that I no longer had as much time to attend these events. I have not attended their events for months now, and I’m starting to miss the practice. This week I had some extra creative energy, so I decided to visit them and join this week’s meetup.
The Event
The group organizes 3 kinds of events focused on different times and styles. They have short, medium, and long poses events. Each one is designed to help you practice different aspects of live figure drawing technique. For example, short poses, which range from 30sec to 15min poses, are a great way to practice movement, mark-making, and composition. Longer poses (20+ mins) allow you to focus on shading, detailing, texture, etc. I have recently enjoyed going to longer poses and practicing my polishing techniques (after many and many days focusing on movement and dynamism, which is one of my favorite aspects).
Throughout the years of practice, I’ve explored many aspects of figure drawing and I have drawers and notebooks filled with my studies. I’ve tried different techniques, I attended multiple classes and workshops, I experimented with different approaches and mediums. In the future, I can put a post together talking more about my experiences and my learnings from them. Today I just wanted to share the drawings I made in the meetup and introduce this topic to the blog.
I was a bit rusty and worried I would not get good results, so I chose a medium I was comfortable with: colored pencils and a toned paper. The results are not amazing, but they are better than I hoped, and I’m happy with them.
30 mins2-5 mins10 mins15 mins
I unfortunately had to leave a bit early because I had already gone to the woodblock printing studio that day, and we met at someone’s rooftop; I was tired, and it was pretty cold! We used to have a partnership with a local university to use their classrooms, but we lost that, and we are looking to get back into a better setup. The lack of proper space and structure, and the lack of training of the models, is a big setback to me nowadays. Of course, this is not the most important thing, but it does make a huge difference to have a good, well-lit and comfortable place to work, and to have a trained model that can strike and maintain interesting poses for the artists. But any practice is good practice… right?
From all the textile arts, the world of embroidery has been out of my radar for the most part. Perhaps because I’ve been notoriously bad at hand-sewing, I always make way crooked lines and uneven stitches; it requires precise, mindful repetition, which is not my strong suit – I’m more of a “good enough” and “do it for fun” kinda gal.
However, I’m happy to say that recently something changed in me and I’ve grown more and more curious and interested in learning embroidery!
The first seed
My mom and I have been designing an upcycling and textile arts workshop to provide mothers (and other relevant groups) with tools for personal expression, community building, and creative entrepreneurship. During our numerous conversations about the project, she introduced me to the traditional Japanese embroidery practice known as Sashiko. It’s known for featuring geometrical grid-based patterns. They are beautifully mesmerizing and functional. The technique is often used as an up-cycling tool to mend and connect fabrics; it also adds durability and structure to them. In Japan, it’s commonly used to create home-made cleaning rags, for example. I loved the patterns, history, and the useful nature of this technique.
During other conversations with professionals in the field, who are part of this upcoming project, I was also introduced to the idea of creating a stitch book or flag, where you swatch different embroidery stitches for personal reference. After learning about it, I kept seeing this idea online, and I ended up learning there are a lot more stitches than I knew about, with lots of variations.
The reconnection
On my recent hand-made Fanny pack project, I had to do a lot of delicate, beautiful, and secure hand-sewing as well as some tricky cross-stitching embroidery on top of crochet. It was a big personal challenge, but I did do a better job than I expected. This also helped me feel inspired to continue exploring the world of embroidery. I was surprised by how relaxing and fun the hand-sewing portions of the project were!
After this new perspective with the craft, during a talk with my mom, I learned about my late grandma studies of embroidery; I knew she was a crafter seamstress for the family (and my grandfather was a leather shoemaker too) but I wasn’t aware that she also enjoyed embroidery (specifically satin/paint style) and tatting, a lacing technique – which I’ve just recently learned about.
After this talk, I found myself inspired by the possibilities. I’ve unfortunately never met my mom’s mom, but I still feel a strong connection to her. My mom says we have a lot in common, in our ways and looks, and our interests too! I feel a connection to her and other elders when I practice these techniques that are being passed down through generations of women. I feel fortunate to have access to learning techniques from a variety of experienced teachers online and in life, and to have access to the materials to experiment with them.
The beginning
I had some scrap fabric, and in a jolt of inspiration, I started cutting it and crudely sewing my book together. It’s pretty small, and since I used cotton fabric without much planning, I realized that the edges were coming apart quickly. I could’ve hemmed the edges before binding it, but without much planning, I had to come up with an alternative. The best idea I had was to stitch the sheet’s edges with a border stitch to stop it from fraying further. all around q loop. This would also be my first embroidery exercise in a sense. I started trying to do a fake overlock stitch but ended up giving up on that and doing a simple buttonhole stitch that was yielding about the same results, but it was a lot faster. I ended up finishing it up in one (long) day, a lot faster than I expected, to be honest.
Now for the fun part: learning embroidery. I started out by planning the stitches I wanted to learn. I sketched them out in my notebook in categories I improvised along the way. I drew a few parallel lines on the first page and followed with a simple straight stitch.
I experimented with sewing thread and embroidery thread, as well as playing with variations in stitch length, gap length, color changes, and multi-line designs. At this point, I was not sure what about my plans or if I was going to follow any kind of structure for the book, but I kept going with my explorations and learning a lot from Pinterest and TikTok. I would search up the stitchname, learn the basics, and then try to copy all the variations.
After a while, I was really learning a lot about the different techniques, and I was having fun with the contrasting colors and playing with the different variations of the same stitch. It has been a great experiment so far, and I’m starting to apply my newfound skills to more complex techniques and personal projects. I’ll post again when I make more progress on my studies with more notes about my learning and findings. Until then, happy crafting!
Today was another printing day at the studio, this time printing the first out of two colors of the second layer of woodblocks.
I jumped right in, grabbing my dry prints from last week and all the supplies to create the needed turquoise paint.
Dried out prints from last week
After carefully adding more and more paint until I got to the correct tone, I tried pulling my first print on my worst copy from last week since it was my first trial aligning the layers. I always organize my prints from worst to best in the hopes of getting better with the experience and optimizing my chances of getting at least a few “perfect” prints.
I taped the mask (which was a long vertical strip in this case) to the top of the board from the back so I could flip the mask back when I inked the board and flip it back forward, sticking it in place. I had another tape in the bottom facing up from the back of the board just to secure the mask on the bottom, although the ink does a pretty good lob at keeping the acetate in place.
My first print came out really nice! I love the result of the gradient underlay! It came out just like I planned it and it was great to be able to see it go from digital to real life. It made me have hope in this whole process and excited to continue. I was really happy and mesmerized with it.
As I was printing this and other copies, the unique results were bringing in a lot of attention from curious studio mates. At first I was welcoming the feedback and tips but people were more judgmental than I was being with my results, and to be honest that threw me off a bit. The main negative comments I was getting were about the “dirty” edges I was getting from not cleaning up my board edges well enough; and about my miss aligned layers. The later bothered me more than the first. I was just not getting the “layer down of the paper” correctly, test after test. And the worst is that I only had 4 of the linear gradients and 2 of the experimental bases to print on, and as I kept pulling them I kept getting things misprinted.
I was annoyed at myself that after such hard work planning things out I was not getting aligned prints. I was also overwhelmed to have to deal with peoples opinions while I was still processing my own. I kept trying to clean up the boarders and get the alignment right. As the prints ran out and my results did not improve a lot I started to get frustrated. The last two prints were even worse: The experimental backgrounds did not have as much of an effective result as the linear gradient. I felt like that gradient background was really pretty and now it was lost forever… All that bummed me out and overwhelmed me.
Acetate mask added after inking the boardThe base print and the inked board about to the pulledResults, I love the gradient effect The mask after the first print.
I was 4 prints in when I finally ask for help. Bebeto reminded me of the trick of using styrofoam corners to help lay the paper. I glued it wrong the first time and got mediocre results, but Bebeto helped me again and the last print came out perfectly aligned. At least there was some hope.
Gradient prints 1-4Experimental background gradient 2 (from last week)Experimental background gradient 1 (from last week)
Note that on these pictures the light is reflecting on the fresh ink layer and giving the impression of a gradient, but that’s is incorrect. Here is a more realistic look on how the colors look in real life and will look like once it dries out:
Overall it was a bit of a chaotic day, with big ups and downs. After some time alone regulating myself I was able to come around and realize that this was a great test run. The effect of the design was amazing and I was super excited for the possible results of this print.
I decided to go ahead and continue all 6 of these prints as my trial of the process and in the future I will do an official pull, improved by my learned mistakes.
Let’s see how layer 3 comes together next week, and if my new improved guide will grant me better results.
This was quite the week! We’re finally ready to begin the printing process, but first there were some last-minute preparations to be done before jumping straight in!
During the week before going to the studio I finished up the two supporting elements to my printing process:
1. Cutting my masking shapes for printing two colors with one block (for the second and third layers). Note: I’ve been referring to the boards as layers 1-3, but from now on I’ll be referring to layers 1-4, counting the second block as 2 layers since it’s two colors, which are applied separately.
A quick process video of the acetate mask (with the special help of Potiro Biro)
2.Creating the registration guide to help me print all colors aligned to each toner: It took me a while to get it right, but after a couple of trials and errors, I figured out my strategy.
This is a very simple guide system, where I align each layer facing up on the press, and then I align the bottom of the paper to the bottom edge of the guideline and let it fall forward into place. The boards are color-coded and clearly numbered on the back, and I drew an arrow pointing the way the board should go. These extra steps can help to avoid a lot of future mistakes, as I’ve learned the hard way. – I’m glad I did this at home without the pressure of other people watching me, so I could really connect with my intuition and come up with the best strategy for myself. In the future, I want to experiment with the registration tags, but I have not yet figured out how to create them at home.
Registration Guide 1.1
3. Cutting the paper for the prints: I had done this step previously, or so I thought. When I went to count my papers, there were only 6 sheets cut to size for my design. I could not find the same paper I had used, and the dimensions I had created did not fit efficiently in my available papers. To not waste material, I cut some sheets a bit larger and with a different weight than the first batch. (If I had cut the paper with the same size, I would be left with thin stripes of paper that I don’t have a use for besides recycling into more paper, and the thicker border enhances the design). With that, I had a total of 16 or so sheets made, when I found a closed package of high-quality Canson paper in A4, so I decided to take a few sheets of this too, to complete 20.
At this point, I’m bothered by this mismatch of papers, but at the same time, I want to work with what I have and avoid wasting materials. I reassure myself: “Who cares… It’s not like I’m selling this, and I enjoy the explorative process of creating non-identical prints!” But I will come back to debate this later on…
3 paper sizes Ready to start printingRegistration Guide 1.2 – with all 3 paper sizes
At the studio, I jumped right into work! I started by choosing the colors for the gradient and asked for Bebeto’s help to choose the best blue (so not to end up with purple this time). I blended blue, green, and white inks to achieve these 3 tones of tourquise – image below – (after some trial and errors, of course; Too much green, too much oil, too little paint… I always get a bit anxious mixing paints because I don’t want to waste material -it’s a theme, isn’t it? – but I often end up not making enough paint and waste more material this way… I’m getting more confident with practice, but I need to learn that sometimes being generous with the materials actually prevents more waste than the other way around.)
To make the gradient I chose a roll that was wider than my board, and used my board as a guide to create the gradient – since I wanted horizontal stripes I lay the board on its side and use the height as the measure for setting the ink in place. Then I rolled it out carefully to blend the colors, and it resulted in this beautiful linear gradient:
Color palette Gradient creation using plate as guide Rolled out gradientInked board – trial 1
I was anxious to pull the first print… I took my time aligning the board and the paper, and letting it go carefully so the paper would fall aligned correctly. Surprisingly it all went well and my first print came out beautiful! A nice smooth gradient with the right colors and in the right proportions, with no excess of texture or other glaring mistakes that bothered me. I had enough ink to create 4 mostly identical prints.
First trial result
With the gradient’s leftover gradient on the roll and on my working surface I diceded to do some experiments, against Leo’s (Bebeto’s assistant/studio manager) warnings of the limitations of woodblock printing.
I had two sheets of paper on this batch, so I made two makeshift radial gradient prints using a couple of narrow rolls and an improvised technique: grabbing bits of color and applying to the board in circular motions, slowly mixing, moving and working with the tones.
The first trial came out beautiful, perfection, I love it. The second came out worse, there was even less paint on the stone now and the colors started to blend too much. Still might come out nice with the other layers added on top but we will see. (You can see the result of the last attempt at the end of the video below.)
Freestyle radial gradient – inked boardFreestyle vs linear gradient resultsLittle simplified process video of the whole printing process
At this point, I had used all the 8 sheets of paper of this set, but I did not have enough of the dark tourquise paint mixed to pull more prints. I took a quick break to think about my next steps and weight my options: I could try mixing more paint of the same color but my working station was pretty dirty already and I would probably need to clean up the whole thing and start the process over. I only had a couple hours left before the studio closed and I did not want to rush. Also I’m not super sure about the different paper sizes; I had a lot of questions and doubts about how to organize the series in the three paper sizes… Should I have them all be identical? Should I use the opportunity to have different color options on different papers? Do I still call it a series if they are all identical? (They are already not identical at this point since I did two freestyle/mono prints, so how do I split this). What order should I do things: print this first batch all the way through and go from there or print all sheets with layer 1?
This is something I struggled a lot last year and I’m starting to understand that it’s a theme on my work. I love making complex pieces with multiple layers, gradients and colors, and I tend to experiment as I go with variations throughout the whole process. I’ve done lots of research about how to number and signify prints in a series and varied editions, but I still don’t feel secure about making these choices. From my understanding it’s up to me at the end of the day, but why is it so hard to decide? I feel like I might need to decide on a personal system to how to deal with series for my work, and what I consider a variation and/or a series. I want to do more research and talk to other artists to make this decision though.
For now, I’ve decided to not make a real decision and just finish printing out these 6 copies I’ve started all the way through and see what I want to do at the end. I can chose if I want to make variations or not after testing printing the different layers and planned colors to learn from it and what I could/would want to do differently.
After this break, I still had to clean up my station, that although I did not have enough dark touruise it had plenty of the lighter tones, so I decided to do some prints of the third layer by itself with this nice aqua color. I really enjoyed the shape of this layer and I was already planning on doing some prints of it by itself so this was perfect. I love the results and the color came out beautiful! I did two pulls on those “extra” Canson sheets I had brought in. Between printing copies 1 and 2 I cleaned up the boarders of the design a bit – so that the noise would not go past the design boarders. Although it might look nice as a standalone print, I want to keep the boarders of the oficial design as clean as possible.
Used up all the leftover ink Inked boards – pretty color! Giving water vibes already Resulting pulls; top to bottom: cleaned version, first print.
I took the rest of my time at the studio to clean up a bit and talk with my peers about their projects and get some feedback and ideas about my process too. Leo was talking about how the colors might end up mixing or changing once the layers are printed on top of one another, and it is something important to consider. For example the last layer was design to be an icy white but just by adding white it will become blue tinted by being printed on top of a blue base. Let’s see how layer 2 goes next week, when I’ll put to test the masking layer!
I went to the studio yesterday after taking a two-week break due to a holiday and a personal trip to Rio. This is all the woodblock printing work I’ve done since my last studio visit:
The first thing I did was to improve my straight edge carving tool to be more comfortable and prevent blisters. I used some of those surgical/athletic tapes to wrap the area where I grip the tool, which gives me more stability and a soft surface to hold onto. It’s not pretty or a permanent solution, but it helps.
ProcessBefore & After
2. With my improved tool and still at home, I finished carving the second layer of my project. I left the outer edges to be removed in the studio so as not to force my hand or damage my tables – this process is usually a little messy!
3. I also took this time to catch up on some maintenance work I had to: I organized my past work into files with all test and printing materials, and I titled, numbered, and signed some pieces. I’m very happy that everything is organized and up to date now, and I am grateful to have enough space to organize it all. Maybe I can do a studio tour sometime…
4. Finally, at the studio, I started the day by filing down this layer (the first one) since it came out textured on my first test print. I made it as smooth as possible, carefully keeping it all leveled out to maintain solid colors and sharp lines.
Before and After
5. Then, I cleaned out the edges of the second layer while chit-chatting with an old friend from the studio. I marked the edges of the image with the “knife” blade tool and then carved out a lot of the wood with a straight edge tool, always working outwards from my piece.
6. It was finally time to test out layers 2 and 3. I used the black ink that was already out by my studio mates, and did a couple of prints of layer 2 and one of layer 3. They came out with a few imperfections (listed below), but overall, I was very happy with the results. I especially love layer 3, and I think I should do a few prints of this design by itself, too.
7. To fix the imperfections of these layers (see the images below), I need to file down any texturized pieces. On layer 3 (on the left), the texture comes from some leftover wood putty I apparently did not sand down enough.
I filed the putty down to remove the textureI’ve also filed this area down, although I’m unsure of the source of the texture. Maybe it was damaged during transportation unfortunately.
Next week I’ll test it out all layers again and make any necessary adjustments The only 2 things to be done before I can actually print the whole piece out are: 1. Create an acetate mask so I can print two colors on the second layer and 2. figurie out and build a registration guide so the layers come out aligned. I might need Bebeto’s help for this last part since the boards have different sizes.
I will try to get the mask done at home before next week’s visit, so I have more time to work on this guide and start printing the first layer again! Hopefully I’ll get the colors of the gradient right on the first (second) try! There’s a lot of trial and error to come soon… Stay tuned to see what I come up with!
Today I went into the studio to continue working on my pool-themed experimental project.
I had no clear vision for what I wanted to accomplish, but I knew I had to finish carving my boards, and perhaps I could start doing some early prints and color tests.
With the upcoming Good Friday holiday, the studio was crowded this Thursday. I chose one of the few open spots in one of the 4 communal tables. Last year was my introductory year at the studio, and now I’m joining the “experienced” classes with lots of new people, so sitting here was a good opportunity to start mingling with them.
Layers Reference
Carving
Last week, I used wood putty to fix a few mistakes I’d made when carving Layer 3 up, and so this week I started by cleaning it up: I removed the excess wood putty from the details and the outer edge, squaring it off to dimension. At this point, this layer is ready to be tested. Since this is the last layer to be printed of the piece -and it’s a straightforward, one-color print – I’ll just set it aside until I get to that point of the process!
I started to clean up Layer 2, which was about halfway done. I did make some carving progress, but since I’m using the “blade cutter,” I wasn’t able to finish it; the blade puts a lot of pressure on the last articulation of my pointer finger, and since I have some hyper-mobile articulations, the hyper-extension of the finger hurts a lot. That’s why I add this piece of tape (see image) around my fingertip; it gives a bit more structure and stops it from bending so much and forcing it. On top of that, I guide the blade with my fingertip, which I also covered with a bit of tape for grip, but the constant pushing against the metal hurts my skin. I had to take a lot of breaks not to force it… Slowly, I’ll make progress on this.
Next, I was thinking about Layer 1. I considered using the back of one of the other layers’ boards to print Layer 1. This would save material, and since it’s a simple design (no carving besides delineating the edges), it would not be risky for the design on the other side of the board. However, when I started thinking about the printing and carving process, it became more of a hindrance than it’s worth it: it would stop me from being able to carve or print two layers on the same day, for example (at least not without wasting some time thoroughly cleaning it.) So I decided to keep Layer 1 on the board I had prepped for it last week.
I worked on cleaning the edges, and unfortunately, I made a mistake or two, but nothing too bad. I had to use the same blade tool for this step, so my hands were already tired. Maybe I should’ve taken even more breaks, and I think I should come up with an improved idea for making the tool more comfortable for me. This was all that I needed to do for this Layer. Now this layer was ready to start testing too! With this, I had 2/3 of the layers ready.
Printing
At this point, my hands were aching, and I did not want to carve anymore. I was itching to start doing some prints and so I decided to start doing gradient tests for Layer 1. This practice reminds me again and again that patience is key! Printmaking and rushing really don’t go together. I wasn’t exactly in the correct mind-space for this step.
My first mistake was in choosing the colors. I went for what looked like a more purplish-blue, like a Bic pen blue. However, once I started blending it with white, I noticed how much of a purple this paint was, and very little blue. This is a problem because it’s a pool design, and even though the purple could be used later for a cool “night” version of the print, it’s not what I’m going for. I still used the paint to practice making a gradient and printing it out, of course – I wouldn’t want to waste the materials, even if just for an ugly test. I can always use this as the base for another drawing or something like that.
Another problem with the purple paint was its consistency: it was very thick and mostly dried up, so maybe I could’ve added some flaxseed oil to make it more malleable, or, even better, just asked for Bebeto’s advice on it. I kept adding more and more paint to the gradient, but 1. The gradient was coming out blotchy, and not as smooth as it could be 2. There was not enough paint to transfer to the board, which resulted in a faded and spotty print. I went through adding paint to the gradient and transferring it to the board a few times, but I could tell it was not enough paint… since it was also not the right color, I felt hesitant to keep adding more paint. I ended up pulling a test just to see how it would go, and it went as expected… not enough paint! This print also showed me a third mistake I had made: the board wasn’t smooth enough! There was still quite some grain showing, even though I sanded it last week.
Defeated, I spent the next 20 minutes cleaning up my mess, kinda ashamed for not getting any valid prints but also thinking about how I would fix my mistakes for next time: 1. I need to clean up my board from as much paint as possible and sand it again with a finer-grained sandpaper. 2. I also need to study the desired colors carefully, maybe even make some swatches to match-up when mixing the paints; Two things I could’ve done in this hour or two of studio time instead of doing a rush print job.
Another lesson to remember the next time I attempt this gradient is to be careful with how bright/light I want it to get. I think the lighter stripe on this test was too wide, and maybe keeping it more concentrated in a smaller area might give off a better result. To figure that out, I need to test it with Layer 2 and see what effect works best. This is the first layer, and this gradient is what’s going to seep through the tiles of the pool I carved on layer 2, giving off the idea of a light source shining on the grout at the bottom of the pool.
I did not have to start printing today. A couple of hours is not a lot of time to attempt a gradient, especially after taking a months-long break from printing. I ended up making a few silly mistakes along the way, forgetting steps, using the wrong supplies, and methods. It was nothing huge, but it resulted in mediocre results and wasted paint. But it’s all good because making mistakes is how we learn, and it’s all part of the process.
After all that hard work, I needed a little treat! Afternoon tea, or “Afternoon coffee” as we call it here, it’s an important Brazilian tradition. It is upheld in many houses, and also in this studio by the lovely group of elder lady artists who frequent the studio on Thursdays. They always bring cakes, breads, and spreads, and of course brew a nice pot of coffee – drip brewed by tradition.
This week, since it’s easter, there were lots of traditional Brazilian chocolate boxes, filled with an assortment of chocolate candy bars. I was not going to go for it – I’ve been to shy to grab food since I have not been contributed to the spreads these weeks, so I shyly been drinking coffee, but after this long day I treated myself to a chocolate bar and a quick chat with a friend I met at the studio but I had not seen since early last year. It was a good way to wind down.
My friend’s birthday was coming up, so I offered to gift them a crochet piece. Their request? A going-out bag/fanny pack. He’s a dear friend with a very bright and fun personality, so I wanted to make him something special, practical, and a bit snazzy. I thought a design with stars would work well for a going-out bag, but it’s a challenging shape for crocheting. My idea from the start was to create a simple dynamic design with two stars, one applied directly to the bag and the second one as a keychain/decoration.
The name, “crochete” comes from a play on words between “crochet” and “pochete”, the word for fanny pack in Portuguese, my mother language. The joke caught on between me and my friends, and it is how we have been referring to it during this long long process. Part of the reason I started this blog is so my friends can catch a break from me going on and on about my projects, haha! Anyway, back to the process:
After researching existing crochet fanny-pack designs, I decided to go with a more square design with curved edges and store-bought hardware for the strap. I wanted it to have two pockets for safety and practicality. (This would later come bite in in the ass, since I have a hard time with adding zippers with liners 😨). I chose the yarn colors, thinking about a scheme that would be fitting for day and night.
I knew this was a hard project to tackle, because a fannypack is a very utilitarian item and usually has a more modern/urban style featuring thick fabrics. So not quite the strength points of crochet techniques! I welcomed the challenge but was strict about the look and feel of the final result, which made it hard for me not to obsess and work in a inefficient way throughout this process, as you’ll see…
First Steps
To start my project I drew the design to scale on a piece of paper and cut out the star shape to use as the guide. My next step was to figure out the approach I would take to create the star design: my options were tapestry crocheting (a technique where you switch colors as you crochet to create the designs; it wastes more yarn but the design is seamless integrated in the fabric) or classic embroidery on top of the solid crochet piece.
I initially was interested in trying the tapestry technique, since it was new to me and I saw great references, but after some patience-testing trials, I had to reconsider my approach.
The stitch plan/pattern I created to follow
The problems I faced with the technique were the following:
1. Not really a problem since I liked the result, but the color-switching technique lets the color you are carrying through (not the prominent color of any current stitch) show through. So the fabric had bits of green and purple seeping through. This was worsened by the fact that I chose a thin yarn to work with.
2. Also caused by my choice of thin yarn, I had a really hard time keeping my strings organized as I switched colors back and forth… I’m sure I could work it out with some patience, but it was not looking like this was the appropriate technique for this yarn, and therefore project. I chose a pretty thin yarn to achieve more of a fabric feel and keep that modern vibe, but it did not match the tapestry crochet – or at least not as my first go at it!
3. The border of the star, done in the mint-green, was not bold and solid enough for it to pop. I wanted it to be quite graphic, and as clean as possible, and that was not what I was getting from this technique.
Unhappy with the results I was getting, I started to consider embroidering the design on top of the crochet pieces instead. Little did I know there were going to be lots and lots of tests and re-dos with this approach too. Looking back, I should’ve started by doing some swatches and technique tests. It would’ve saved me a lot of time, but then it wouldn’t be my chaotic, creative process, would it?
Embroidering
I chose a a cross-stitch technique to achieve the “solid color” result for the star I was looking for. However, the problem was how much this process distorted the piece. I was using a doubled thread of the same thickness of the crocheted base. I was also doing small stitches almost every crochet stitch, which was enlarging each stitch significantly after a few rows. This resulted in a distorted rectangle that I was sure would bring me problems in shaping the fanny pack down the line…
The piece embroidered and blockedThe piece after a day out of the blocking stageDetail shot of the stitches (wet from blocking)
I went all the way through with crocheting, embroidering and blocking all parts of the bag when I decided I had to try redoing the front sections. I was half-way through my second attempt (which I have to say was much neater and with an improved technique) when I realized the piece was still getting distorted.
The two trials of the embroidery process
I moved on to testing other parts of the design while I brainstormed other ideas of how to embroider the star. For exemple I started to test and plan how to attach the internal lining and the zippers. I’ve got to confess this is one of the most daunting parts of the project since I’m not great and hand-sowing and I always get so confused with zippers… so I tacked the pieces in place to start getting a sense of the piece, and that’s when I hit the lowest point of the project.
I was hating the shape, the technique, how, even though I kept blocking my piece, everything kept getting crooked and distorted. So I decided it was better to start the whole thing over. A bit dramatic, but I had the feeling that after a few months of work already + a few months of this project being shelved, I needed to do what would make me inspired and excited to work on, even if that meant going back to square 1.
At the same time that I did not want to obsess over this and go overboard on my perfectionism, I also did not want to invest months of work into a piece I would not be happy with at the end. At least I had learned a lot along the way, of what did not work and what I did not like. So I guess I was not exactly at square 1 after all. That’s when phase 2 started … which you will learn more about in a future post. Until then, wish me good luck, perseverance, and lots of self-compassion!
Stay safe and good crafting to you, dear reader!
Supplies List
Crochet threads: I used a Brazilian brand of threads called Círculo, from a series called Charme (TEX 378), pure cotton. The color codes are:
Black →8890 Preta
Purple-Grey → 8336 Cinza Chumbo
Matcha Green → 5583 Verde Limão
Hook: 3.50mm
Sewingsupplies: Thin embroidery needle and a cool grey sewing thread (Sorry, I don’t have the specifics for these, but I tried to match the color to the “Purple-Grey” as much as possible – did not quite match though, more blue than purple…)
Liningfabric: Thin cotton as close to “Matcha Green” as possible.
Hardware: Polypropylene/Nylon webbing strap material in a color as close to “Purple-Grey“ as possible and matching black, plastic strap-ends and sliders. (I minght end up using something else when we get to this step)
Assortment of crochet tools like scissors, stitch markers, washi tape, measuring tape, pins, etc…
Last year, I started taking a woodblock printing course at CIC (Centro Integrado de Cultura), my local cultural institute.
Many people have told me this used to be a vibrant hub for all artistic practices in Florianópolis, the island where I live. Those same people protest the current state of the place: only a couple of workshops survive from the varied roster they once had; the artistic library, full of rare books, recently closed to make space for yet more private projects; the exhibition rooms are empty… the space is a ghost of the artistic propeller it once was.
Although the situation is awful— and a common topic around the studio— this woodblock printing class has been going strong for over 25 years under the guidance of Bebeto (Carlos Roberto Nascimento de Oliveira). He’s an experienced and respected printmaker who has taught hundreds of artists over the years. I’m super honored to be one of them!
I heard about the class through a friend and counted down the days until the sign-up period. It’s an entirely free “class” that works more like an open studio with Bebeto’s guidance. During my first year in the studio, I worked on a variety of projects, learning different woodblock techniques and expanding my general printmaking skills.
Printmaking is one of my favorite mediums of all time, and this year, I’m excited to continue experimenting! Today, I visited the studio for the second time this year. This is the project I’m currently working on and the progress I’ve made so far:
I spent my vacation months thinking about what I wanted to explore for my next piece, and during my swimming sessions at the pool, inspiration struck: the straight lines of the tiles dancing with the curved lines of sunlight reflecting on the water’s surface created a beautiful and intriguing scene I knew had potential for a woodblock print. I kept thinking about it, took reference photos, and ended up with two distinct designs based on the concept – after a few failed drafts. Here they are:
Design 1Design 2
I had a hard time deciding which option to work on and eventually chose to go ahead with both. (Although I’m slightly bothered by the fact that they’re very different in every way except the inspiration point, which doesn’t make for a particularly cohesive or dynamic duo. Maybe I can build a more unified collection by creating a third piece to tie them together. For now, I’ve decided to start with these two and see how the theme evolves.)
Since Design 1 was much more complex to print, I decided to start with Design 2 — but of course, the art gods had other plans!
I measured the MDF board three times, just to be sure, then carefully cut it. Somehow, during that process, one of the boards ended up narrower than the other, which would’ve resulted in too small a square and a lot of wasted wood. So I took it as a sign to move forward with Design 2 instead — after all that indecision, it felt right to just go with the flow. I’m glad I had another design ready and was able to avoid wasting material.
During that same studio visit, I printed out Layers 2 and 3 of Design 2 and transferred them to the board I had cut and sanded(not without asking for help first to make sure I had the steps right — for some reason, this part of the process always confuses me. I’ll try to take notes next time, and maybe even post them, so I can refer back later).
I spent the week carving Layer 2 but of course I also made a few mistakes in the process. I got a bit rusty over the vacation months, and my hands definitely suffered. I have hypermobility in many parts of my body, especially in my hands, so the force and finger bending required for carving can be quite painful. I try to work around it by using tape to avoid overbending and building up calluses. Despite the pain, the first week back was a lot of fun; I thought about carving all the time and treated it like a little reward at the end of the day or during my free moments. I missed this creative practice over the summer.
This week at the studio, I went in with the intention of 1. Prepping the board for Layer-1, 2. Fixing my mistakes on Layer-2 and 3. Sharpening one of my tools for Layer-3.
I managed to do all of that — and still had time for a coffee break with the lovely folks at the studio, complete with cake and chit-chat:
1.
First, I cut the third board for my project: I made sure to measure it carefully this time, using a template made from the printed designs. I saw-cut it, sanded the surface and edges, and marked it. I made this 3rd board slightly larger so I could carve the edges with a ruler and get a more accurate result for this layer. However, later in the day, I realized I could probably have just used the back of one of the other boards for this layer. I’m still deciding whether to save this board for another design or go ahead and use it as the base since I can reuse it later anyway.
2.
I fixed my mistakes using wood putty, which I applied with a makeshift spatula — going a bit overboard so I could file and carve it down to match the rest of the design once it dries.
3.
I managed to sharpen my very small carving tool, but it still didn’t work for Layer 2. My edges were rough instead of sharp, and I had to apply too much force — which is the opposite of what you want for control, resulting in more mistakes. I had to find another technique and ended up using a straight blade to cut along both sides of the thin lines to remove them. This gave me much cleaner lines and more controlled curves. I forgot to paint my board before starting to carve — again — so halfway through I grabbed my trusty highlighter to help distinguish what had and hadn’t been carved out.
Some of the carving progress I made in studioYou can see here the vertical lines on the right side are a lot sharper than on the left because of the change in technique
