Happy Valentine's Day!

A Box of Chocolates

(click to enlarge)

Well, I still can't get enough of linocut printing. This latest piece that I did for Valentine's Day is another reduction print, meaning that first you carve away the areas that you want to stay the paper color. After that first color is printed (the "milk chocolate" color in this piece) you carve away the areas that you want to remain the color that you just printed, and so on. Some artists even do reduction prints of twenty or more colors! One of my favorites is Sherrie York. Her website and blog show the steps in her process so beautifully. Amazing. Ok, back to my little print...

After printing the milk chocolate and dark chocolate, I "cheated" and made a separate little block for the red heart. I was going to put a border around the image, but after playing around with it, I decided that I like it as is.

I ended up with about ten prints that turned out with varying degrees of success including the one at the top of the post, from which I've made slightly larger digital prints for my Etsy shop. I love how they turned out: I can hardly tell the difference between the original block print and the reproductions!

So, along with this Christmas one, there are now two "A Box of..."

What should be next?

Two Valentines

I pulled out this oldie for Valentine's Day—a little drawing that I did a couple of years ago for Illustration Friday. (You can read the original post here.) And, for those of you who prefer the sweet and traditional, here's my little sketch of conversation hearts from last year. (It was also for Illustration Friday; the original post is here.)

I also do a little series of "botanical hearts"
—you can see what I have done so far here.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Illustration Friday: Popularity

I'm interrupting my "botanical hearts" series to bring you this sketch of some hearts of a different sort. These classic little confections enjoy a soaring popularity this time of year. Nothing says "Valentine's Day" quite like conversation hearts.

Oddly enough, they're kind of challenging to draw. I spent a couple of hours on a more "photorealistic" drawing, only to scrap the darn thing. There's something about that type on them that trips me up: it's very imperfectly stamped onto the candies, but that imperfection is hard to duplicate. So I decided to do a quickie drawing, and I think that the more casual sketch sort of suits these little hearts.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

February Hearts, Part 3

3" x 3", Prismacolor colored pencil

The third little heart in the series.

I even remembered to take a work-in-progress scan, probably because 

I needed a break from the repetition of drawing holly berries:

I'm hoping to eventually have nine of these "Nature Hearts",

so that they can be used individually or arranged all together in a square format, 

but here are the three I have so far:

And here's today's vintage Valentine postcard:
(scroll down for previous posts of hearts and vintage Valentines)

This one, from 1912, is to my husband's grandfather's future wife.
The message reads:

Dear Friend, How are you getting along. I am well.
When are you coming down? I hope you will get many Valentines.
True love from Cora B. ____.

February Hearts, Part 2

3" x 3", Prismacolor colored pencil

Here's the second in my new series of little drawings.

(Scroll down for the first.)

And here's another of my vintage Valentine postcards
sent to my husband's grandfather in 1910.

 (I've included this one more for the charming message than for the front image.)

It reads (uncorrected):

Mr. Adams,

Dear friend, rec your card and was very much surprise too hear from you and
 I appreicate being remember very much. Yes; Henry doesn't like me any more. 

Sincerly, Ida

Illustration Friday: Forward

3" x 3", Prismacolor colored pencil

I've been looking forward to February for a while now. (Okay, I know that's a stretch for the topic of "forward", but I hated to miss another week of Illustration Friday!)

. 

Why? Because February is the perfect month to post this first piece in a series of little drawings that I've started. I'll be posting more this week. Hopefully, you'll start to get the theme as you see more of them.

Also, I have a treasure trove of vintage postcards that belonged to my husband's grandfather, and since many of them are Valentines, I thought it'd be fun to share some of them with you throughout the month. Here's the first one, from 1911:

Can you read the message? It's written on the back of the heart embossing and says

"Can you guess. SWAK" (sealed with a kiss)

Happy February!

Illustration Friday: Reverse

Blame it on my graphic design background, but when I see the word "reverse", I immediately think of type or graphics "reversed out" of a background color, often black. And since I may not have time for another drawing this week, I decided to have my Illustration Friday entry double as a Valentine drawing of sorts. Granted, it's not your typical pink or red Valentine, so if you're more of a traditionalist, feel free to scroll down and enjoy the quince buds instead. Either way, Happy Valentine's Day!

Update: My drawing was selected as "Pick of the Week" on Illustration Friday! (It's a completely random selection process, but I'm still tickled. Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket...)