Carving and Block Printing

It has been a while since I pulled out the carving block and lino cutters but I was seriously in the mood. Since it has been a while, I opted for a simple design. I drew a vase with flowers on a table right on the block and began to carve away.



As I was carving, I decided to add more detail to the design. This added detail may or may not end up as a part of the final product. That is what I like so much about carving - the end result is often different that the original idea.



I drew the design with my trusty Pitt Pen brush marker and was a bit surprised to see the ink smear as the blade came in contact with it. This was the first time I used a Pitt pen on the printing block and wasn't expecting it to smear so much. I have used Sharpies and pencil in the past and both smear, but not to this extreme. I'll post pictures when it's done.