You have made some inkblot beetles, and colored into them. You have coated them with gloss medium so they look hard and shiny. Now what?
Collect them in a case with labels! Make your own museum!
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This is a box of inkblot butterflies from the exhibition at the Galleries at Saint Peters.
There are almost fifty inkblot butterflies, one beetle and a bee!
Margaret Peot: Woodcuts, Inkblots and Curiosities
The Galleries at Saint Peter’s Church
619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street, NYC, entrance on 54th
Opening Reception: January 31 from 6-8PM, with a special sneak preview of my new Inkblot book!
This is the sketch for Captain My Captain, the woodcut in the last post.I scribbled it out on the beach while watching the paddle surfers and imagining a crowd of sea life under the waves. Skates and stripers had washed up on the beach that morning.
This is the three color reduction block I made while out at Montauk. After I had printed the yellow and green, I was pretty sure that it was a total bust–it was deeply ugly! The black pulled it together: A good lesson about patience and trusting one’s instincts. I printed it with Akua Intaglio inks–water based and stiff enough to roll up and hold detail.
You know those weird, dusty victorian specimen cases? Full of insects and birds cavorting in moldering flora and fauna? You can make your own specimen case with inkblot insects, and blown ink trees and branches.
Photo safe, double stick foam tape attaches the fauna to the flora.
More inkblot beetles, with antennae and legs.
Inspired by Seguy, I have been making inkblot beetles. I pre-fold the paper, Rives BFK in this case, and then draw with a bead of ink: A carapace, a head and a dot or two. Then I fold and gently squish the ink, let dry, and color it with colored pencils. Really FUN. Not sure what they are for yet…
I recently began experimenting with water based inks for woodblock printing, and discovered Akua Color inks, (http://www.waterbasedinks.com/) specifically Akua Intaglio. These inks have fantastic tack, roll up great, don’t dry too fast. The black is very black and rich. Clean up is easy, there is no odor. I am impressed.
A friend of mine turned me on to Eugene Seguy–illustrator, French, 20’s–remarkable illustrations of insects, which he then transformed into textile designs. Fantastic!
