New year, new art adventure! 🎉 I’m excited to launch a new series called "Monthly Mini", where I’ll be creating and revealing a fresh, mini-scale piece of artwork every month. Think of it as a little creative surprise - each month will bring something different, whether it’s printmaking, a tiny painting, a sculpture, or whatever medium sparks inspiration.
To kick things off, I’m starting with printmaking, a process I’ve been deep into lately. There’s something magical about carving a design, inking it up, and pulling that first print—it never gets old! And for January’s debut piece, I went with my little unexpected muse as of late: the armadillo. (Because it's hard not to think of them as armored love bugs?)
I have recently added a mini print press to my studio from Open Press Project and decided to be a part of their Open Print Exchange art show kicking off in Germany. This required me to get a series of 10 prints out the door for the exhibit.
Sketching + Research
I began concepting in Procreate on the iPad. This helps me to be agile with the design and to move elements around easier. I landed on two layouts... one with a heart, and one with abstract circles in the background. I took to polling on Instagram to see which to ultimately go with! It was a close call, but matters of the heart won. 🏆
Carving + Printing
I had found a blog post about a new type of double sided Japanese vinyl, and decided to give it a try for this mini. I liked the idea of it being double sided - and having a different color core to maybe better understand where my cuts were.
I wanted to like it - but quickly ran into two downsides.
I use black line work to transfer my sketches to the block - which blended in with the core when I cut the surface color away. It became hard to see what was cut away already.
Clearing the cuts away from the block was a task in itself. The typical battle ship grey linoleum cuts tend to easily break away or flake off when you make the cut, while this vinyl needed to be physically pulled off the block which left having to make a secondary cut to clear the end.
In any case, I soldiered forward and made the second block for the heart.
Final Reveal
I am super happy with the final piece, and sent my 10 numbered pieces off for the exchange. Looking forward to seeing what the other artists create! Check out the reel I made of the whole process on Instagram.
Sneak Peek of the next Monthly Mini
Do you have a favorite animal you'd like to see in a future Monthly Mini? Feel free to drop me a note! In the mean time, here is a sneak peek for what's brewing for the February Monthly Mini: A Monarch Throne.
Until next time ✨~ Jennifer
Disclaimer: The thoughts shared in this blog are solely my own and do not represent the perspectives of my professional relationships or clientele.
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