FOR ERASER CARVINGS


I highly recommend the Colorbox ink pads for carvings, particularly for images with large flat areas, for two reasons:

The pigment ink adheres well to the rubbery/ plastic surface. I find that most dye-based inks often just bead up on the EZCut material - particularly when it is new.

You can lay your carving face up on your work surface and apply the ink evenly by pressing the raised color box pad onto your image. This is nice because you can see what you're doing.

(did I say two?) The raised ink pad on the Colorbox allows you to ink any size stamp. Just be sure that you get re-inkers for any Colorbox that you buy. They last a very long time before needing to be re-inked, but there's nothing like a nice moist pad for producing strong images. (Ditto - if you emboss your stamped images.)




Do you stamped your carvings and then have a problem with the ink smearing when you color it in with a marker? Urgh. Aggravating. This is the primary reason I emboss any carvings I intend to color in. The HEAT EMBOSSING seals the ink and allows you work smudge-free around it.

Another option is to spray the stamped image with WORKABLE FIXATIVE. This smelly cloud of stuff is used on artwork to seal inks, chalks, paints, etc. in order to allow for a second or third layer of color to be added. You just spray it lightly and allow it to dry - five minutes. These five minutes will allow you to change the filter cartridge in your gas mask. Just kidding. Just be sure to use this stuff in a well ventilated area. Like Alaska. You can then use nice juicy markers or watercolors over the initial print. OR...

You could carve a second image to stamp under or over the first to produce a BICOLORED STAMPING. To make this easy, take a carving you've already made (a square or rectangle design would be best for registration purposes) that would look good with a second "spot" color. Stamp the image onto scrap paper. Trace out with pencil the blank area you'd like to add color to. Make this area a little larger than the opening and you'll have an easier time aligning the two prints.

You also need registration marks somewhere along an edge so that you can line both carvings up when you stamp them. I usually just trace the bottom two corners if I have a straight edge or the longest outside edge on the left side if the shape is irregular. (I'm right handed and it's easier to see what I'm doing when I align the stamps on the left side or bottom.) Rub these pencil marks onto a second eraser and carve both the area for the "spot" color and the registration marks for alignment.

When you stamp the image and its "spot", you'll have to place the registration marks carefully to be sure you align the prints properly. This usually takes me some practice and sometimes a little additional trimming. It is best to stamp the lightest color first as the darker color will cover the registration marks. If this is interesting but unintelligible - get Julie Hagan Bloch's book; "Carving Stamps" and she'll show you how to do it from scratch.


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