Sketch and Etch

Just before last semester ended, I finished my first ever intaglio print! (in-TAL-ee-o) The assignment was “inside/out,” so I went with an image I’m quite fond of including in my art: the blossoming of a rosebud. I’ve always liked to continue themes within my work across various mediums, and since I’ve done roses in both lithography and screen printing, it seemed fitting to do an intaglio print as well. Here’s what my preliminary sketch looked like.

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Using copper plates that we sanded and beveled ourselves, we carved our images with an etching needle into a ground applied to the surface of the plate. Once I was happy with my idea, I coated my plate with an acrylic ground and traced it on backwards (so it would print the right way!) using chalk paper.

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Then I started carving! I was surprised by how easily the needle carved away the ground.

My finished etching

My finished carving

The next step is to etch the plate by submerging it in hydrochloric acid for a set period of time. This process eats away the copper that is not covered by the acrylic ground, creating a carving that will hold ink. Once the etching was done, I removed the ground and set about inking the plate.

The messy inking process

The messy inking process

My finished inked plate, ready to print!

My finished inked plate, ready to print!

My first run!

My first run!

My best finished print!

My best finished print!

The last step in the project was to do a new edition of three prints with the same plate, after altering it somehow and adding another process (like relief rolling to add color, etc.). I chose to sand my plate some more to remove some of the plate tone and to include Chine-collé. Chine-collé is a collaging process done with thin paper, wheat paste, and pressure from the printing press to combine the papers. I chose to use Japanese Kitikata paper to give some color to the blooms in my print.

The Chine-collé process: my collaging paper placed on my plate just before printing

The Chine-collé process: my collaging paper placed on my plate just before printing

 

And finally: My finished print!

And finally: My finished print! Just a little bit of color for the roses.

 

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Friendsgiving!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, and food! Personally, I had a great Thanksgiving. Since I’ve been at Puget Sound, I haven’t flown home to California for Thanksgiving (because planes are EXPENSIVE and I need to save money for holiday gifts, obviously). This year, my good friend Maia Raeder’16 stayed at school as well, so we, along with her visiting friend Jake, made our own fakesgiving dinner!

Green beans, spaghetti, and chicken sausages! (for the meat eaters)

Green beans, spaghetti, and chicken sausages! (for the meat eaters)

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Me, Maia, and Jake–the friendsgiving crew!

When all the cooking and preparing was done, we had a pretty good (albeit full of carbs) dinner! Spaghetti, green beans, chicken sausages, fresh fruit, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, miscellaneous chips, and–per tradition for Maia and Jake–Hot Tamale candies. A real smorgasbord!

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Afterwards, we watched a marathon of Whose Line is it Anyway? while trying to stay awake from our feast. It was a lovely Friendsgiving indeed.

So proud!

So proud!

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The Peckenparents!

This post comes a little late, but my parents visited recently! My dad had business to do in Seattle and my mom snagged a cheap plane ticket to come visit as well–just in time for the sketch show! Getting to see them was great, and having them here to see the show and what I enjoy doing outside of class made it even better.

I was worried about how they’d react to silly college humor, but I guess I’d forgotten that they were that age once too! They even brought me flowers after the show!

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We hung out around Tacoma quite a bit, too. We went to the ever-popular breakfast place, Shakabrah…

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Hung out with some old friends at Culpepper Books…

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And Papa Peckenpaugh got in a trip to his favorite place…

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While Mom took some pictures of her favorite Tacoma things!1505007_760010090703494_5387514102097814767_n 10557452_760713920633111_7119241423818000788_n 1395910_760713910633112_5610877625871087509_n

Honey crisp apples!! The best come from WA.

Honey crisp apples!! The best come from WA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was great having them visit and I’m so glad they came to see the show!

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A Peek at Point Defiance

I found another video that gives a peek at the beauty of Tacoma! It’s by the same guys who did the Cityscape one, but this time it’s Point Defiance Park that gets a little attention. This place is just gorgeous, and this video does a great job of capturing that! Give it a view.

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Woodcut Relief

Somehow, amid the hours spent working on the sketch show, I found time to finish my first ever woodcut relief print for my printmaking class. I’ve never done something like this before, so I took a bunch of photos throughout my process. Here’s a look at how it works!

The theme we were given was “land,” a pretty broad topic. I thought of the desert, which made me think of rock-hunting with my dad, which made me think of geodes, which made me think of crystals. I’ve always been fascinated with crystals and their formation, so I did a little visual research and came across some cool images. Thus, my preliminary drawing was born!

Inspiration 2!

Inspiration 1!

Inspiration 1!

Inspiration 2!

My image, drawn on my wood block

My image, drawn on my wood block

Once I had transferred my image to my block, it was time to start carving using these neat (and SHARP) little tools. I definitely slipped and stabbed myself more than once. This was a reduction relief print, so the first part carved away was what I wanted to stay completely white.

Almost done...

Almost done…

Completed carving!

Completed carving!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I’d finished carving, it was time to mix colors and ink it! I decided to do what’s called a “rainbow roll,” essentially creating a gradient with multiple values by blending inks and applying them very uniformly.

Mixing ink!

Mixing ink!

All of my ink values rolled out and ready to apply!

All of my ink values rolled out and ready to apply!

First run all inked and ready to print!

First run all inked and ready to print!

We had the choice to print either using the press or by hand. I trusted my hand a little better in getting these values to come through and had better results in my proofs, so I stuck with printing by hand.

Hand printing using a spoon for pressure

Hand printing using a spoon for pressure

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My finished first run!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More prints = a very sore hand

More prints = a very sore hand

Once I had completely printed my first run, that is, my first color(s), it was time to do more carving for my second run! This time I carved away what I wanted to stay part of the purple gradient, leaving only the bits that were supposed to be a different color.

All carved, plus my transparent charcoal ink mixed and ready to apply!

All carved, plus my transparent charcoal ink mixed and ready to apply!

And finally, here’s what my finished 11.5×8.5 print on Japanese Kitakata paper looked like!

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I was pretty happy with how this turned out, but registration (making sure the colors lined up with where they were supposed to print) was a huge pain. I even submitted it to Crosscurrents, the literary art magazine here on campus! Here’s hoping it makes it in!

Hard working printmakers!

Hard working printmakers!

 

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UT Presents: Hopes of Buying the Moon!

This past weekend was a very special occasion: the biannual Ubiquitous They sketch comedy show! Every year the team picks a name for the show based on a particularly interesting line from one of the sketches and tacks “UT Presents” on the front; this year, the title was UT Presents: Hopes of Buying the Moon! All the sketches in the show are written, directed, acted, and produced by students, which makes for some pretty great comedy. It was my first time ever being in a sketch show and I couldn’t have been more excited! Here’s some pics from behind the scenes!

The awesome design for our posters and tshirts by Andrea Eaton'15!

The awesome design for our posters and tshirts by Andrea Eaton’15!

There were great costumes…

Michelle Leatherby'16 as one of the characters from the show!

Michelle Leatherby’16 as one of the characters from the show!

John Miller Giltner'16 as the Squatch!

John Miller Giltner’16 as the Squatch!

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Group scenes…

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Perfectly casted parent/child characters…

Andrea Eaton'15 and Allie Lawrence'18 make a cute pair

Andrea Eaton’15 and Allie Lawrence’18 make a cute pair

Surprisingly not siblings Alana Fineman'18 and Elliot Ash'18

Surprisingly not siblings Alana Fineman’18 and Elliot Ash’18

 Some active backstage warmups…

UT Presents: Soul Train!

UT Presents: Soul Train!

Conspiring leaders…

Conspiring sketch leaders Shelby Isham'15 and Jordan Mueller'15

Conspiring sketch leaders Shelby Isham’15 and Jordan Moeller’15

And an overall great group of people, here posing like a 19th century family photo–hand on the shoulder and all.

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 I am very happy and lucky to be part of such a fantastic group of people!

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Ta-home-a

I just came across this awesome video that showcases Puget Sound’s hometown in all its beauty. This is a really cool way to get a glimpse into what Tacoma is like! Makes me happy to call this place home.

 

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Sketch Tech

It seems like it’s only been a few days since Town Crier, but a new tech week is starting up… the Ubiquitous They Presents: Hopes of Buying the Moon, a sketch comedy show! This is my first time being in a sketch show, since I just auditioned for and was added to the team this semester. With a bunch of funny people and funny sketches, the show is going to be a really good one. Today was our first (very) rough runthrough of the show, and this week marks the start of tech. Here’s the (most of!) the fabulous people I’ll be working with this semester!

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Halloweekend 2014!

Finally, Halloween was on a weekend! Friday was great; there were way more people in costume than I expected! I dressed up specifically for my Greek myth class as a satyr–complete with maple leaves, twig antlers, and fawn ears I made with foam. I had some really fancy fawn make-up I spent a long time on, but a decorated face is (not surprisingly) not very conducive to daily activities, so I took it off after class.

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My friend John Giltner didn’t have a costume to wear in the improv show that was schedule for later that night, so I gave him my ears and some light fawn make-up! He was a pretty cute deer.

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Walking around campus it was pretty cold, but the leaves are really starting to turn and fall (finally!) so it was really nice. Plus, lots of people got into the pumpkin carving this year! Here’s a few (including Majora’s Mask!!) from outside one of the residence halls, Trimble Forum.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 presetMy suitemates got dressed up as well, with some pretty creative costumes.

M. Jean from the movie Grand Budapest Hotel (aka Nick Kruger'15) playing mandolin in my kitchen!

M. Jean from the movie Grand Budapest Hotel (aka Nick Kruger’15) playing mandolin in my kitchen!

Nick and John and Kristin Kerbavaz'16, a classy Sim.

Nick and John and Kristin Kerbavaz’15, a classy Sim, plumbob and all!

Yours truly as Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon!

Yours truly as Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon!

Some of my friends who live in an off-campus house together decided on a group costume: the entire cast of the TV show Bob’s Burgers!

From L-R: Nicole Renna'16 as Tina, Eric Schnell'16 as Bob, Katelyn Hart'16 as Linda, Zoe Levine Sporer'16 as Louise, and Kyle Dybdal'16 as Jean!

From L-R: Nicole Renna’15 as Tina, Eric Schnell’15 as Bob, Katelyn Hart’15 as Linda, Zoe Levine Sporer’15 as Louise, and Kyle Dybdal’15 as Jean!

To kick off the night’s festivities, Ubiquitous They improv had a show (as we do every Friday) featuring some cleverly costumed performers. Here’s some pictures from backstage pre-show preparations!

Preshow practice! Ft. Allie Lawrence'17 in her preliminary costume, Grace Penzell'16 as Linda from Bob's Burgers, myself (the fawn), and Jacquie Harro'16 as Buffy with her partner Willow, Molly Gregory'16!

Preshow practice! Ft. Allie Lawrence’18 in her preliminary costume, Grace Penzell’15 as Linda from Bob’s Burgers, myself (the fawn), and Jacquie Harro’17 as Buffy with her partner Willow, Molly Gregory’17!

John the deer and as Willow from Buffy

John the deer and as Willow from Buffy

David Raftrey'17 as what he called "shitty Batman" and Nigel

David Raftrey’18 as what he called “shitty Batman” and Paige Maney’15 as Nigel Thornberry

Nick as M.Jean and yours truly as Hiccup from How to Train your Dragon

Nick as M.Jean and yours truly as Hiccup from How to Train your Dragon

Batman corners a deer

Batman corners a deer

Paige Maney'16 as (now beardless) Nigel Thornberry, and Jacquie  as Buffy

Nigel  and Jacquie as Buffy

Group photo!

Group photo!

A successful Halloweekend, I’d say!

 

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Photos from the Week

Just a few photos from the week. Friends and fall break.

My festive suitemate, Nick

My festive suitemate, Nick Kruger’15

A trip to the Grand Cinema for fall break relaxation

A trip to the Grand Cinema for fall break relaxation

Midterm study giggles!

Midterm study giggles!

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