Ok, this project was a bit of a ramble. I’m doing the Summer Nerd Games and have been thinking about what to do with the craft club supply this month, which is a small wooden board. Yesterday afternoon it came to me - I should do a woodcut looking thing on my laser and use that to make this month’s postcard!
Here’s where we’re going to end up:
But it was a bit of a journey. First I needed a subject. I recently got this awesome tattoo from my friend which has woodcut vibes, so I settled on a crow.
Here’s my inspiration photo (courtesy of a google search).
Here’s my traced vector version:
On to the laser cutter! I ended up making 2 sizes because that fit well on the board:
Now, I’m sure I’m not the only one to have gotten an idea in my head and just gone for it with not much prep or forethought, right? Like, I should have gone and gotten a saw from the garage to cut them apart instead of just snapping the board and then cutting away the splinters with my pocket knife, but that was all the way outside!
Next, I certainly could have looked up how to actually do printmaking, but I didn’t. I had vague memories of doing this once as a teenager and was pretty sure I didn’t have the right tools, but I also didn’t let that slow me down! Instead, I grabbed some acrylic black paint and a little brush and started trying it out with the small one first. There was definitely a learning curve. Around try 6 I realized I should thin the paint. Try 8 or 9 I liked the consistency and was feeling better. So then I sized up the the big one.
Probably the most nerve wracking part was committing to actually putting it on the postcard. What if I messed up?! But then I of course realized that I could go get a new one if I really needed to. I’m slightly bummed that my last practice was a bit more clear, but I still really like the result. Here he is again:
It was fun, but if I’m going to do more in the future I’ll probably go get the tools to do it “right.”