Ok, so I get asked A LOT how I transfer my images to a block of linoleum.  This isn't linocut specific, it just happens to work very well for linocut, especially if drawing directly onto lino isn't a natural feeling process to you, or you've made a drawing and you want to convert it into a print.  This also works with some glues like Mod Podge.  I've only used GAC 500, so that's how I'm showing you the process.

1. Your image photocopied or printed and cut down to size
2. Golden GAC 500 Acrylic Medium
3. Piece of Linoleum ready to carve
4. Cheap 2" brush (or anything to disperse the glue)
5. Squeegee or old credit card (to smooth the glue out)
6. Rag/towel
​7. Acetone (nail polish remover with acetone)

Start by pouring some GAC 500 directly onto the lino block.  Start small, and add more if you need it.  (this will reduce your mess)

use the brush to spread the medium as evenly as possible, but don't be too concerned, just focus on getting good coverage.  Thin areas will have a risk of not picking up the toner or ink as evenly as the thicker areas, but go too thick and it can impede your later carving as you will have to pierce through a thick layer of gel while you carve out your image.

When your coverage is fairly even, you are ready to move on (see below).

Carefully place the image, face down.  Try your best to line it up evenly with the edge, if you don't, you may have issues using a registration block later, as your image will be crooked, and it will be hard to register a nice, even margin for crisp presentation and signing/numbering your work.

Using the squeegee or old credit card, push smooth the image out over the paper.  Work from the center of the image out, forcing any excess medium to the edges, and squeeze it right out (clean it with a rag or paper towel, do not allow it to dry on the edges, or it will form an uneven surface around your edges).

Now that it's all smoothed out, let it cure for a bit.  I like to wait an hour or two.  Golden says you can do it in a few minutes, but I have had issues with the image rubbing off slightly after not waiting long enough.  Now I wait at least an hour to be safe, and if I can, I do this before I go to bed, and clean it in the morning.

Now run the cured block and paper under water.  Using the ball of your hand, or a towel or rag, begin rubbing away the paper, using the water to help you.  When you are finished, the paper will be gone, and all you will be left with is the ink or toner and a layer of the gel medium.  You can actually rub pretty hard without worrying too much about clearing the ink.  The image is even flipped for you, super convenient!  When you print, the image will flip back to its original orientation.

That's it!  You are ready to carve!  Once you are done carving, you will need to clean the block prior to printing.  I use 100% acetone nail polish remover to rub off the medium and the toner.  If you try to print before removing the gel medium, you will get uneven results!

1. Near perfect image transfer
2. No need to trace and flip the image, as this process automatically mirrors your image
3. Very fast and effective (tracing and carbon transfer can be time consuming)
4. You get to draw on your favourite paper, using your favourite tools without having to worry about drawing directly on lino

1. Doesn't work with reductions, as you need to clean off all the ink and medium prior to printing
2. If you aren't careful, the gel medium can have an impact on your carving (this is why I stress even distribution which will totally eliminate this problem)
3. Not as good on non conventional blocks like softcut or easy carve lino because the skin that the gel medium forms is a much harder layer than the lino, which can easily cause crumbling and slipping on these surfaces (I don't recommend so much for softcut linoleum as I have had the acetone impact the surface of the lino, I have used it on pink Speedball Easy Carve with decent results)

This is a great method if you want a certain look for your lino.  I certainly don't think it's the only and best solution.  It's situational if you wan't to capture a certain image a certain way.  You can lose the spontaneity that comes with drawing directly on your support block.  Like anything, this is just another way to do something, and having as many tools and methods at your disposal can help you make the best prints you can!

Cheers, and happy carving!

​Eric 

This week, i started work on a new linocut. The image is actually a drawing from last year that I sold in April of 2018. When I started getting hooked on relief printing, all I could think was that this drawing would be so perfect as a block print.  Another drawing I have my heart set on carving is my Raven Perched drawing from last year.  Anyways, I thought I would take this opportunity to walk through everything I have learned to date on the subject. I am no expert but I am in a unique position that I am not totally green anymore, I have a pretty good understanding of what I am doing, but I am new enough that I am empathetic to the often overwhelming feeling of starting up. So let's get started!  What frustrates me the most when reading blogs on any new subject is the lack of specifics.  People who have been doing something for too long or are experts often have what I refer to as an "assumed knowledge". 

My day job is in broadcasting, and when I first started, I had absolutely zero knowledge about the industry.  People love to spout acronyms and fancy words that make it sound like they are exclusive holders of a niche of knowledge, but when you start to ask questions and pick away at the meaning behind abbreviations, acronyms, and other fancy words, you are left with simple, basic truths, and more often than not, you can expose people hiding their lack of knowledge behind the shield of those fancy words, but that is another article altogether!

Anyways...in part one of this entry, I thought I would go through all the different supplies and try to narrow it down to the best supplies I have found to complete the task at hand, which is not simply carving an image you made, but printing it as well.  The problem with a lot of "beginner" art supplies is that they are often so bad they can have the negative result of deterring people from the medium.  This isn't to say I have the mentality of "only the most expensive".  On the contrary, I always look for affordable professional quality materials.  In the case of items I know I will have either forever, or a very long time, I will sometimes invest a little more if I know in the long run it will save me money.

Secondly, I will try to tackle and address the process I use.  From drawing and carving, to inking a block and running a series.

This list is a startup list. If you get into linocut, you will eventually want more. This will get you through a first block from carve to completing a run. I have detailed explanations below of why I chose what I did on the supply list.  I will provide costs in Canadian, as that is where I live.

Red - Items you will probably need to get
Yellow - Items you will most likely own as an artist
Green - Common house hold items you should have

1. Unmounted battleship grey linoleum $15 (depending on size, but I would recommend starting 8x10" or so)
2. Self healing cutting mat 24x36" $50
3. T-Square $20
4. Box cutter knife $3
5. Golden GAC 500 gel medium $20
6. Acetone $3
7. Rubber gloves $3
​8. Plastic ink squeegees $2
​9. Cheap 2" hardware store or craft store brush $4
10. Any old rag or the ball of your thumb
11. Grey tone Copic markers $8 (you could use a cheaper craft store brand, but as I am an illustrator, this is something I happen to own)
12. Black markers or brush pen $3
13. Pfeil tools (3 or 4) a 11/0.5 veiner, 12/1 V gouge, 15/2 V gouge is what I got and a Flexcut 4 blade starter set $25 each,
14. Flexcut honing slip strop $25
15. Registration jig DIY (foam core ) $5
16. Inking surface glass plate or palette (tempered) $30
16. Speedball 6" soft brayer $20
17. Wooden spoon $5
​18. Caligo Safe Wash Oil based Relief Ink 150ml tube $20
19. Fabriano Academia 20x30" $2 sheet (x10)
20. Work bench or table $50
21. Dish Soap $2
22. String with bull clips or clothes pins $4

$208 CAD startup cost
$85 CAD preexisting art supplies
$19 CAD house hold items

Total: $312 CAD (actual price you'll be spending is around $200 CAD, and many of these supplies are one time purchases if taken care of)

I will go over the supports I have tried.

1. Unmounted battleship grey linoleum - there are several versions of this, they all pretty much seem the same to me. This is the go to. It is the best. You need the right tools for it, but it is the best. It holds smooth, clean lines, fine detail, and is easy to cut with the right tools. Will require a bit of elbow greese for hand printing.

​2. Speedball Easy Carve - easy to carve, easy to crumble. I really like it for simple designs or illustrations with limited detail. I used this to make postcards for my booth at marketcollective. Any fine details and the block will start to crumble.  I think Speedball intends this product to be more for stamp making as it is more like rubber than linoleum, however many people do use it like it is lino, and you can if you so desire. Does not require good tools. It is also very easy to print off of by hand.

​3. Speedball mounted tan block - hated it. I made a nice design on the block, but the block never printed properly by hand. I feel like it is designed for press printing. The carving surface itself was similar to battleship grey.  Full disclosure, I have seen some people print on the battleship grey mounted blocks with good success when hand burnishing, so maybe I was doing something wrong, but I don't really see any benefits to mounted blocks.  With unmounted, if I want to I can cut the shape out of the square so I don't get any stray printing.  The regular linoleum also holds up very well, it is not nearly as delicate as the easy to carve blocks.

​4. Softoleum or Softcut - similar to easy carve, but a little better, cuts easily with beginner tools. I expeeienced an issue with transferring, I use gel medium to transfer a photocopy, then acetone to remove the photocopy before inking. I noticed the acetone actually reacted with my block and ruined it, causing the surface to bubble and warp. If you draw directly or use carbon transfer, totally viable, otherwise avoid! Also holds a line fairly well and less crumbly than easy carve.  This stuff is fairly easy to print off of by hand.

​Overall winner: Battleship grey linoleum

This is really important for measurements.  I actually don't cut any of my paper, instead I use a T-Square as a metal tear bar to trim my paper, but I do use the mat to make all my measurements and make sure the paper is square and lined up properly.  You also may want to cut your linoleum.

Lot's of trimming paper and cutting blocks is linocut, and later on proper registration will become more important when you do reduction blocks or multi block prints and multi colour print registrations.  If you are lining your paper up without using tabs, then you will want proper cuts and tears made to your paper and block.  Invest in a good metal one.

Any old sharp knife will do.

I'm not going to spend too much time on this.  There are all sorts of different routes, pick one that works for you.  I am not going to spend time talking about transfer paper and tracing.  Instead I will discuss a method I learned going down this road that works with printouts (both inkjet and photocopy).  I have tried the acetone transfer method and it is just not as clean and precise as this one

1. Golden GAC 500 gel medium.  it's quite simple, get a brush you don't care about, poor out some gel medium onto your block, spread it around with the brush till a sufficient layer has covered over the block (don't be stingy).  Place your print down on top of the block and using a flat edge or baren, smooth out the print out against the block, pushing out any excess medium from the center to the sides.  I usually let it cure for an hour, but have removed it as quickly as 10 minutes later, but have occasionally had issues removing it too soon.  An hour seems to be a good safe time.  Once cured, soak it under water and start rubbing away the paper.  Once you are done, you will be left with a reverse image of your image on the block.

2. Acetone - This is a photocopy transfer method, and I know it works because I used to do it in art school using acetone markers. I did try just acetone and a brush to burnish the image onto my linoleum block, but it didn't work nearly as well as I wanted it to. Regardless of whether or not you use this method, I use the acetone to clean the transfer off my block after I have caved it, so I still recommend getting this even if you don't use it for photocopy transfer. Remember, if you are buying nail polish remover, make certain it is the 100% acetone type!

3. Carbon paper and tracing paper - I will probably use this method in the future, but for now I have been drawing images, then photocopying them to use the GAC 500 transfer method, but I know many others prefer this.  You can by this at pretty much any hobby or art store, and there is even a special red transfer paper that you can purchase that is used by many relief print artists.

Overall winner: GAC 500

This is sort of personal, but I do feel this is versatile, especially if you are just starting out, you probably made a drawing and thought..."what if"?  This method will allow you to simply photocopy the drawing and transfer it very accurately to your block.  This is really important if you are planning to follow the guidelines of a preexisting high detail drawing.  If you plan to kind of make it up as you go, then a loose carbon transfer is probably best. 

You'll want these when handling solvents like Acetone, and you may also want to wear them while inking up your plate or handling your ink so you aren't getting smudges all over your paper.  Something I wish I had bought for my first print runs.

These little guys are both handy in the image transfer process when trying to smooth out the paper against your plate, and they are also handy for moving ink around on your palette.

You should already have one, it's the brush you use when you don't want to ruin your good brushes.  (applying mediums, glues, etc)

You already own one.

1. Copic Markers - not necessary but handy, use a grey tone marker (I use a mid value) and colour the block.  This makes it nice and easy to see what you are carving away as it increases the contrast between carved block and uncarved block.

Great for cleaning up transfered images, or just adding and drawing new designs directly onto your block.

1. Speedball interchangeable blades - homestly, if you are going to get into this, just avoid. The difference is like using a dollar store brush versus a Kolinsky Sable. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!  I will say that these do work okay on easy carve and softoleum blocks, but then I find you are limited to surface carving materials that have a lot of limitations.  It's also worth mentioning that while you may be saving money on your tool here (but not really as they are still fairly expensive and you will have to replace the blades when they dull), you usually have to pay a premium for the "easy to carve" linoleums.  So while you cut corners on your tools, you will be doling out big money on the easy carve stuff.  It costs you around $20-25 CAD for the Speedball cutter, or $25 for one quality Pfeil blade that will last you a life time if maintained.

2. Flexcut tools - pretty good set of tools, and the starter kit comes with a leather honing strop and honing compound to sharpen your blades, and all good blades will need sharpening.  The carving tools themselves are 4 interchangeable blades.  It comes with 2 V gouge blades and 2 U gouge blades.  I still use the large chisel gouge in this set to clear big areas.  I have heard complaints from some that do not enjoy the feel of certain high quality tools (how they rest in your hands).  This would certainly be a high quality options, though I would invest in the individual wood handle blades as no one likes changing through blades while working as this totally kills the flow.

​3. Pfeil tools - the best I have used. They cost me 25 bucks each, and I currently own 3. Two small veiners and a medium V gouge tool. These are the only tools i used to make the eagle aside from a wide Flexcut U chisel to clear the large area around the subject.  They are stiff and easy to guide and control.  They are sharp enough that I find I am able to guide them along large curves and ellipses in the carve, a problem I have had with other tools is making a continuous circle look as though it is smooth and flowing, these tools eliminated that problem as I was able to simply hole the tool still and guide the block itself to create the circles.  They don't flick or jolt out of the lino causing unwanted scratches in the surface.  Think of it like having a good Chef's blade and the difference between cutting a tomato with one of these blades versus say a knife you bought at Safeway for $9.  As a result, due to the sharpness and smoothness, I have cut myself a lot less with these tools...in fact only once, and I was being very careless.  However, as I mentioned in the Flexcut tools portion of this article, some people have complained about the palm tool.  So buy just one, like a small veiner or V gouge (something you use more than any other blade) and test it out.  If you don't like it, I'm sure you could sell it easily on a relief printing group on facebook or reddit.

Overall winner: Pfeil tools

There seems to be a lot of repetition and cliche about certain tools in linocut, and this is one of those cliches.  The reason is because they are legit, awesome tools!  They glide through the linoleum with ease, making regular lino feel like easy carve without the crumble or the hefty price tag.  Don't forget, you will still need a slip strop to hone and sharpen your blades!

In part 2, we will go over making registration jig out of foam core.

You will need a surface to roll ink. You can by a tempered glass palette at an art store, or tempered glass from Lowes

1. Esdee hard 10" brayer - I don't know, every time I use it, I instantly put it down and use another.  It's cheap garbage.  I just remembered, last time I used it, it fell off the table and I forgot to wash it...oh well

2. Speedball soft 6" brayer - it's surprisingly ok.  It inks up my blocks well enough, doesn't miss anything, does the job.  Durability wise, not sure how it will hold up.  It was around $20.

Overall winner: Speedball 6" brayer

I have a Japanese brayer on order that I can only assume will be better, but let's keep in mind this list is about what you need to start up.

1. Premium Speedball Baren with mesh - I don't know who dreamed this piece of trash up, but it's absolute garbage.  It's cushioned on the bottom.  It actually robs you of the pressure you apply to the baren, and this is the single most important aspect of ink transfer.  It's %100 counter intuitive, and it makes no sense to me whatsoever.  Avoid this like the plague unless you don't want nice solid ink transfers on your prints.

2. Cheap starter Speedball Baren - It's still not ideal, but at least it does what it's supposed to.  I am sure there are much better options, and you could probably DIY something way better.  I personally use a wooden spoon and a Thule wrench that came with our hitch bike rack.  They work way better, but I do use this to lay down the overall, initial transfer, then switch to the spoon and wrench for problem areas.

​3. Wooden Spoon - You already have one, and it works.  It's a little slow going because the contact area is pretty small, but you can really lay in the power with it, getting smooth ink transfers.

​4. Student grade bamboo baren - Pretty crappy, my bamboo split during my first series pull.  I unraveled it to reveal a cardboard disk...you get what you pay for.

Overall winner: Wooden Spoon

Another one of those cliches that's true.  On a side note, I have ordered a good bamboo baren and will be testing it shortly, and I may purchase a disk baren down the line.  I have looked into ball bearing barens, but they are expensive and from what I understand could break under the pressure required for solid ink transfers so I will probably avoid.

I know what you are thinking, why not just get a press?  I intend to get a small table top press, in fact, this is where I have planned my birthday earnings to go this year, but this will only print smaller prints (typically a maximum print width of around 26cm).  The large presses are far too expensive.  I will also be looking into the possibility of a membership with my printmaking society in Calgary to access studio time.

1. Speedball water based ink - garbage, avoid.  The worst part is...this is pretty much stocked at EVERY local art supply store.  If I could avoid Speedball altogether, I really would...they just suck so bad at making the product they make.  Unfortunately I can't show you any of my speedball inked prints because they all went into recycling.

2. Schmincke Aqua inks - Not a bad little product.  It's water-based and I got pretty good results doing a large print run of some small postcard prints.  I will definitely experiment more with it.

3. Caligo Safe Wash Relief Ink (oil based) - great product.  Another linocut cliche.  Goes on smooth and solid (with pressure).  The only reason I am even remotely considering an oil based ink to work with at home is the fact that it cleans with regular old dish soap.  The downside, is it can take 2-3 days to dry.

Overall winner: Caligo Safe Wash

Paper is very much a personal choice. I can offer some suggestions based on my experiments. If you are new to this, you will most likely be hand burnishing prints. I know there is an attractive allure to heavy papers, but unless you plan to do low print runs and spend a ton of time burnishing, I recommend lower GSM papers.

What is GSM?

GSM just stands for grams per square meter. In short, the lower the GSM of the paper, the thinner it is, and thus easier to hand burnish.

But don't take my word for it, I encourage you to try the papers you want and see how they perform. I do occasionally use papers over 200 GSM for smaller prints, but for the one I am currently working on (12x16"), I have had much greater success at lower GSM.

1. Fabriano Academia 200 GSM 20x30" - Nothing fancy here. It is an acid free cartridge paper that performs overall quite well. It's cheap. I get it for less than $2 a sheet. It picks up detail reslly well, has a bit of stiffness to it. You won't break your arm working it, but don't kid yourself, you'll have to throw down some pressure.

2. Stonehenge 250 GSM 22x36" - I really like Stonehenge, it is affordably nice heavyweight paper, coming in at around $6 per sheet. If your print is smaller like an 8x10" block, Stonehenge looks really nice. Buyers will apreciate the weight to the paper and the deckled edge.

3. Somerset Satin 250 GSM 22x36" - This paper is really gorgeous and absorbent. I was actually surprised at how well the ink transferred based on the thickness of the paper, but it is still stiff, and I find it is difficult to keep in place while hand burnishing a larger print, I often get offset lines as a result. I haven't tried this on a smaller print but I really want to. Coming in at just under $10 a sheet, it's a paper that you really don't want to mess up on. Not for experimentation!

4. Hahnemuhle Biblio(?) 150 GSM 15x20" - This paper is pretty nice. It's light weight, but still has a bit of heft to it. It doesn't creese as easily as say the 120 GSM sheets. It has a deckled edge, and it's cheap at just over $2 a sheet. It's very easy to hand burnish through this paper, and it holds detail incredibly well. I am currently doing a run of prints on this paper and really like it, but I am also waiting for another set of papers I have yet to try out.

5. BFK Rives lightweight 115 GSM 20x26" - It's a good paper, but pretty pricey for how light it is. It costs about the same as a sheet of larger Stonehenge at 250 GSM. I haven't been insanely impressed by this paper. I don't think I will buy it again. It's too thin without having the same charm as a lightweight Japanese paper, it's expensive, and not really exceeding at anything, and the Biblio is so easy to burnish, that I feel I don't need to go any lighter on the GSM. Again, this is all personal preference.

Wish list:

I am waiting on a few papers to tryout:

Zerkall Book 145 GSM
Somerset Book 175 GSM
Fabriano Tiepolo 150 GSM
Japanese papers

I am really anxious to try out the Somerset Book Wove based on my experiences with their paper.

Overall winner: Fabriano Academia

It's a safe pick, but I am trying to think of the beginner. It isn't my favourite by a long shot, but I do think it is a good starting point. You want something inexpensive with a bit of weight but still easy to hand pull. It does not have a lot of personality, but it picks up fine details well, and when you are just starting, you don't want a material that will take the control out of your hands by adding too much personality. Also try out some Stonehenge so you can get a feel for a heavier paper without breaking the bank like you would with Somerset Satin or BFK Rives heavyweight. My advice, stick to the 150 - 200 GSM range of papers, and then branch out once you have done a few prints, but if you are doing smaller 4x6" to 8x10" prints, I would definitely consider Stonehenge as a top pick! I recently sold a run of 8x10" prints on Stonehenge, and I had the same image on Fabriano Academia, and the Stonehenge ones sold out, and the Academia ones stayed simply because one had the deckled edge and lovely thickness. Go figure!

1. Workbench or tables - I have moved into the garage and am working on a couple fold out tables.  You just want to have a good space you can ink on and burnish your prints.  You'll want room to hang prints and also keep your clean paper.  Organization is really key to making sure you get good prints.  The messier your work station, the more ink smudges you'll get on your prints.  I guarantee it.  You'll be trying to juggle to many things and you will get ink on your fingers, then it will transfer to your burnishing area, and then to the print, and the back of the print.  Keep everything as tidy as you can.

2. Dish soap - You will need some dish soap for cleaning up your Caligo Safe wash inks.  It's also handy for just basic cleanup.  I like Dawn soap, it's the mechanics choice, and the choice of environmentalists cleaning up oil spills.  I'm not even joking.  Ask any bike mechanic, they will have Dawn soap in their arsenal.

3. Clothes line with clothespins -  You can use any old piece of string and clips, just make sure it is sturdy enough to hold up your prints to dry as the ink takes at least 2 days to dry.

In part 2, I will go over all the procedures from ink transfer of your drawing, to carving and inking, to clean up.

So, here I am, the day after my second artisan fair, or more specifically, my second Market Collective.  I have to say, if my first one was...ok...this one went much, much better.  Money aside, I had way more activity at my booth, where the first attempt at christmas, I would tend to go about an hour at times without any engagement, and even more so without any purchases.  So what was the difference?  I think there were multiple factors, and I will try to go over them, albeit I can only speak anecdotally, and not empirically.  Before I start, I would also like to mention that it would be impossible for me to do any of this without my loving wife.  She is as much a part of this as I am.

As I said above, this wasn't my first rodeo.  This is now my second go, and a lot of the mistakes I made with setup in December I managed to eliminate.  In fact, I totally streamlined my setup.  I was pretty much up and ready to go in 90 minutes, and took my whole booth down in 45 minutes.  The first year took me at least 3 hours to get everything the way I wanted it, and it took me at least 90 minutes to take it all down.  The funny thing is, I could still do better.  I saw some great setups this year and got a lot of ideas, took photos of what I think were clever setups, and took notes.  I plan to borrow a little bit from everywhere.  I noticed great arrangements of booths, maximizing the space that artisans had to the fullest potential, great communication ideas like sandwich boards for pricing, and even more hanging solutions that I hadn't thought of!  So I continue to learn, and will hopefully do even better, and learn even more the next time around!

Ok, this is a pretty important part. I had a lot more space to work with. I went one booth size up. This allowed me to have a table, and this is actually where I made a huge part of my sales. I was able to use my "pinnacle" pieces to draw people in, and then display some of my new work on the table to sell them on new items once they are on the line, and often, if I didn't have something to offer someone here, they suddenly noticed the magazine stand of bird prints at the side of the booth, which then of course leads to he print stand with the larger work. There was just a heck of a lot more rhythm to the booth.

What would I change? I would like to upgrade my sign to a retractable banner. I would also like to clean up my hanging setup with boards that hide the metal racks. My signage was also kind of an after thought, and I'd like to clean that up. Basically, I would tighten things up to add a layer of professionalism.

I'm an unknown artist.  Why should people invest in my work?  These are the kind of questions you need to ask yourself when you move from hobbyist to amateur or professional artist.  I think my work is good, otherwise I would never have the guts to go out and try to sell it, but I also have to be reasonable.  In an ideal world, I could spend a ton of money on high quality, cotton rag, paper prints, but the reality is, people don't want to spend 25 dollars on a relatively unknown artist's 8x10" prints.  However, printing good quality work on cheaper paper (that is still fully archival and great quality) and selling that same work for more than half the price, well now suddenly you have a product that people want.  You also have a print that is a lot more on point with what others are selling for, and thus more competitive.  In fact I would say the average price for an 8x10" print at Market Collective is around $15, and the average for an 11x14" print is around $20 - 25.  I was selling for $10 and $20 respectively.  So I kept my prints on the low end of average, which I really think helped people over the hump, and also, allowed them to buy more of my work, and that's REALLY important.  If you have 3 prints from an artist, suddenly you're a collector.  You want to know, does this artist have a website?  Is this artist very active?  What's your Instagram?  I've invested 40 of my hard earned dollars into your work, and I want to know what you're up to and where you're going.  I really like your work, I couldn't afford an original, but as I follow you grow, maybe I feel like I want an original when the time is right and I have more disposable income.

I think it's more important to grow relationships with people than maximizing your profits.  I want people to follow the work, it encourages me to strive forward and is far more rewarding than making a quick buck.  A couple of times, I heard a couple people tell me my larger prints were under-priced, but now I have about 20 large prints in people's homes versus the 2 or 3 I sold for 30% more at Christmas.  I have 10 great horned owl prints hanging in people's homes now versus 0 at Christmas, and this is one of my "pinnacle" pieces.  It is one of the images I have created that seems to resonate with a huge cross section of people.  That's most likely 10 new followers.  

Often times, especially during the early hours of the market you will get interested customers.  Then just as it looks like they're about to clean your booth out they say: "Ok, thanks, I'll be back later."

What?!

Yeah dude, get over it!  You're not the only person they came to see, and how often have you bought the first house you looked at, or the first car you test drove, or whatever?  They want to know what else is out there, and they every right, and this is where the pricing comes in.  Maybe they saw something that they liked as much as your print, but maybe your print was 5 dollars less.  And maybe they have enough to buy that print at the other booth, but at your booth, there was two prints they really liked, and they can get both of them for just $5 more than just one print at the other booth.  So once again, for me, this really enforces the importance of not overpricing my work and overvaluing myself as an artist.  

At Christmas and this Spring, I heard that phrase uttered so many times "I'll be back"...like a Schwarzenegger movie marathon.  The difference this time, is that they actually did come back, so much so, that in some cases I didn't recognize the person when they said "I'm back!"  I just interacted with so many people this week that sometimes I didn't recognize return customers (at least not at first, but once we started talking, I usually remembered what they were interested in).  That means for whatever reason, they went and checked out the other artists in my vein and said, I want what he's got.  And I don't think it's because I'm such a great artist.  There are a lot of great artists at Market Collective.  I just think I had really good price points, and that's not to say I'm undercutting, I'm just offering a lot of different points on the scale.

Yeah, I started doing linocuts.  They're handmade prints, and they're pretty awesome and they add to my diverse price ranges.  I would say the average amount someone spends at my booth is around 25 dollars.  I will have to go back and check the numbers on Square, but I'm pretty sure that's about right.  I had four separate linocut offerings, and I was dead wrong about how they would sell!  I made over 100 prints of my 3 sisters, Canmore and chickadee postcard prints and was selling them for $5 each, which is (in my opinion) a great price for a hand crafted print.  I had two 8x10" prints, one of a mother bear and her cubs, and one of Mount Rundle, Banff.  

I thought those three sisters prints would sell right out.  I sold quite a few, no doubt...but not the sell out I thought I would get.  I thought the chickadees would sell out...I didn't sell a single one...so weird.  I thought people would love the mount Rundle prints.  I did not sell a single one.  I thought I would have trouble selling the mama bear print...I sold out of 2 formats, and made close to 300$ on this print alone.  Don't get me wrong...this is my favourite linocut I've made to date, but I am used to my favourite images not being my hottest sellers, and in this case I was happily surprised, and based on my customers' average purchases at my table, it was at the perfect price point, $20.  Which also often led to a 3 sisters print to top it off.  Don't get me wrong, I still sold more 3 sisters prints than mamma bear prints, but $5 versus $20...well they just didn't compete.  A lot of this is just trial and error and just seeing what people are into.  In December, I thought people didn't want bird art, and this time I sold a ton of bird prints.  I also sold out of some of my new prints, like the wolf pack print, or the elk print, among others.

Some people are looking for great art.  Some are looking for their favourite animal.  Some want a story.  Linocut bridged a connection to my audience like no other work has before.  For starters, a lot of people remember doing it in high school.  They remember jabbing themselves in the hand!  They remember the blood.  They remember how hard it was to do well.  Then they look at yours and the beautiful image.  Then I pull the block out from behind the table and show them the master copy.  I show them the tools used.  If they never did Linocut in high school, now they have a greater appreciation for how the works are made and what gives them that unique individuality for each print.  In fact, it's the print that feels like an original as each print is a one of kind product.  The hand of the artist is in each piece, not simply digitally reproduced.

Another thing I learned from my first collective is to WORK IT!  Get your hands dirty!  If you're trying to sell drawings, bust out a sketchbook and start drawing.  If you're selling watercolours, start watercolouring!  People love to see an artist working, the process is engaging and it connects a dot that they often don't get to see.  Now suddenly your audience isn't just buying a print to hang up, they have an experience tied to that print.  Now your audience has talking piece hanging on her wall.  Something he can tell people when they come over for a beer.  

below is some of the work I created at Market Collective.

Stuff like this can get really competitive quickly and lose the fun.  In both cases this never really happened to me.  Everyone is super supportive, and it's a great, positive environment!  As a relative newbie just starting my journey into this world of idea pushers and peddlers, things like this have the ability to create a lot of anxiety.  But the people make for a really great experience.  All the people I have met have been positive and very encouraging and always making sure to see if everything is going well.  It's a great group of people, which is often a character trait of people doing something they love or following their dreams.

The atmosphere that the organizers have created is unreal as well.  I've never been to a marketplace that has the same feel.  The music, the skate park, etc.  It all feels more like a happening rather than just a place to buy stuff.  I even get pumped while I'm tending my booth because of the music.

For anyone on the fence about giving this a go, take the plunge!  There is room for everyone from amateurs with a fledgling idea to professional entrepreneurs who have gone all in.  I think that is what makes the experience so positive and rich. This is a community of people who have become their own brand, and that's a pretty powerful thing.  That is why I am proud to look up at my "Fossi Images" sign, because I am joining a club of people who have become their own brand, and selling yourself isn't easy, it requires a huge level of vulnerability that you are willing to expose.  It's a risk, and what a beautiful thing that can be!

​So this all started one day when i was looking for inks in the art store, and I accidentally stumbled upon the "after thought" that is the printmaking aisle in most art supply stores.  Granted, that isn't their fault, I don't think the average shopper is looking for that stuff, and the ones that are are looking for the very entry level stuff for stamp making or silk screening their own t-shirts. 

But really, all of this dates back to art school where my love for drawing could only be rivaled by one other department...printmaking.  In fact, in my last 2 year of art school, I basically spent all of my time in the silk screening studio where all of my finished pieces were completed.  I also took intaglio as an elective in my first year, but I only actually did any relief printing, at Sir Winston Churchill high school in NW Calgary where I was enrolled in the Art IB program.

Come full circle to today, I am posting some of my black and white drawings on Reddit, and a user makes a remark that I should turn it into a woodblock cut.  Actually, a great idea.  Except, I decide the relatively easy version of that is to get into Linocut.  So I go online, try to gather up everything I'll need to start, and I do remember the basics from high school, so I start to wing it, and actually, I am really loving it!

I forgot how much I love printmaking, and relief printing is really easy to do in a home studio, and it suits my style very, very well!  So after running a few test prints off some blocks I've carved over the past few weeks I decided that I really need to setup a studio, or I am going to get ink on the carpets!  I setup a little makeshift studio in the garage, and so far so good!

​So I've been experimenting with different carving materials, and I will be trying a couple more as well.  I have also been researching a lot of other artists online.  I have come to learn there is a bit of a balance between "easy cut" blocks versus traditional hard linoleum.  While I like the hard stuff for holding a line, I like the soft stuff because it is a lot easier to hand burnish (rub the ink onto the surface of the paper using a flat hard surface like a wooden spoon or a burnishing tool) the soft blocks, but they also don't hold a line as well as the hard stuff.  That said, if I avoid fine lines in the drawings for the soft blocks, it's not a big problem. 

The middle print above was done on a soft "easy carve" block from Speedball.  While it's easy to lose detail, you can still make some really nice images with it, and I am actually really pleased with the 4x6" postcard print of 3 sisters mountain range.  The one on the far right is a more traditional mounted block, and the one on the left of the mama bear is actually on a material that I have been unable to find again since my first purchase, but that's ok because I would not get it again as it had some surface imperfections that affected my prints.  The mounted block on the right was great to carve on, but also a bit more difficult to hand burnish, but I still really like the results.

My hope is that people have an appreciation for the imperfect, but hand made prints more so than the Giclee prints (which are excellent reproductions of original art, but lack the hand of the artist outside of the original image).  With handmade prints, what I like is that the hand of the artist is still present, and I feel the art appreciator shares a deeper connection to the art and artist.  Rather than the prints being an after thought to just trying to make money off of an image, the prints themselves are the final product, they are the art!

That said, I still love Giclee prints, I even have some of my own work where I no longer own the original, I just like the added dimension of including handmade, traditional prints to my catalog of work, and I hope you will as well!

If you are interested in any of the work you see, it will be available for sale at Market Collective, just a couple weeks from now.  Come down and see me, I will be selling VERY AFFORDABLE hand made prints, some as low as $5!!!

​Eric

Hi all, please take the time to check out the new Etsy Store:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/FossImagesArt

I have been working to make more art work available for both originals and prints!  I am also working on getting all my stuff on a print to order basis so I can provide more prints to you at a cheaper cost!

Prior to this, I only had available the prints I personally had in stock, but now I am able to provide all images on a print on demand basis!  So if there's a print you want, and you don't want to pay the premium of an original, please let me know if you don't see it on the Etsy site yet, and I will make it available to you!

cheers,

​Eric

The latest time lapse video.  This one is from start to finish (not including the initial drawing).  I did make the mistake of shooting the video from the right, and I am right handed, so bare with me as I am fairly new to these sort of videos!

If you are enjoying these, please go to my Youtube channel and subscribe, as more subscribers will encourage me to do more, and possible talk/walk through videos.

​Hope you enjoy!

The Last 30 minutes of a line and wash drawing compressed into 3 minutes using time lapse video.

Enjoy!

 Greetings!

I've made quite a few changes since the end of the year and my first artisan fair with Market Collective in December.  One thing that I really wanted to address, is that I wanted to have a broader range of content for all animal lovers, not just birders!  So I have been branching out to Canadian wildlife.  I am not so rigid as to only reside on half a continent for my subject matter, but it just seemed like a natural starting point!  Never fear bird lovers, this does not mean I will be abandoning our bird friends, more to come in the future.

Another change to my practice that some may have already noticed (hopefully some care), is that I am trying to develop my watercolour/gouache painting skills.  This means that I am trying going to be trying to do less ink and wash images, and more pure painting (whatever that means).  I am not abandoning my original love of the arts, drawing.  I am just trying to hone my skills as I am a fledgling watercolourist.  And besides, most good paintings start with a great drawing!

In fact, I have been trying to push my drawing skills with more sketchbooking and mammal studies.  (Seen Below)

​I'd also like to take this opportunity to look at one of the first watercolours I ever produced (early 2018), versus one I did just a couple weeks ago. (hopefully it is apparent which is which, otherwise I am on the wrong track!)

I'd like to continue to explore different watercolour techniques and focus a little more on building interesting compositions.  I have recently completed my first "full scene" with a background landscape.  While I love doing animal portraits and a more illustrative focus, I like the idea of playing with more complex relationships of foreground/background and subject.

I am also trying to give up a little control.  One of the reasons I am drawn to watercolour is that it is very easy to give up control if you allow the medium to do what it does (it has a mind of its own unlike most mediums that tend to stop moving a fraction of a second after you release your hand, watercolour can keep going as long as there is water to move to.

That said, I am not looking to give up complete control.  I tend to find myself in the middle between realism and painterly.  I am, for now trying to avoid any nibs that allow me to fall into a level and control and trying to work exclusively with brushes, whether it's paint or ink at the end of my brush.

Hopefully this gives you a good idea of where I'm trying to go next, and even more hopefully, I can produce some excellent results (even while learning)!  

Thanks for taking a look!

​Eric

So I wanted to reflect on Market Collective, how it went, what I learned, would I do it again, so on and so forth.  Some may or may not know why I started to draw again and what kicked off this one year venture back into the visual arts.

At the end of 2018, my wife and I were frequenting the Millarville Christmas Market when we came across an artist's booth who was making very quaint little paintings of birds.  She was also making a killing.  I asked myself the question that many others constantly asking myself, why aren't you doing this?

Why aren't I doing this?

Well the easy answer is that it's hard to do this.  And it is.  But still...why am I not doing this?

I can't really answer the question.  I can cop out and give excuses, but I can't answer it completely.

The fact is, I've always viewed art with a very "holier than thou" attitude.  I've never allowed myself to make work for the masses such as wildlife art.  In a sense, this has always given me an excuse I could tell myself if people reject the work, it's that they don't know any better.  That's a really negative way to view high art.  It's not meant to be held over others.

Also this leads me to the next question, is there anything wrong with Kitch or low art?  The reality is that I paint and draw birds not because I think it's a great selling point, but because I love wildlife and nature, and I have had a passion for birds from a young age when I had a pet bird, or even further back, visiting owl sanctuaries in BC as an adolescent.  

So after taking a hard look at myself and my nonexistent art practice, I decided that I am no longer "not doing this".  I am going to try to do this, and I am going to be selling my art within a year.
​

So this is a lot harder than it looks.  First of all, I am not really a salesman.  I am an artist.  I suppose I could use that as an excuse, but instead I choose to use this as a learning opportunity.  I will go through all my learning points in a list:

1. Don't be too, "in your face".  If people are interested, they will take a close look and they will approach you or be slightly apprehensive about approaching you.
2. Don't just take a compliment.  Saying, "thanks", is nice an all but I learned that if I spoke more towards the work and why I think it's successful it engages people more.
3. Find out what people like about the work.  This allows me to approach them differently.  There are people who are more interested in the artistic process, and there are others who are interested in the subject.  You could make the most beautiful drawing in the world but if it's not a chickadee, no sale.  You have to remember that not everyone shares your values, and it's your job to engage what they value to the best of your ability.  Let's face it, some people just cannot be sold simply because you don't have what they're looking for.
4. Know what price point you are selling to.  That seems like a no brainer.  Basically, I learned that if I'm not going to make the sale I want, I can always go for the 2 for 5 postcards, and I was glad I had them.
5. Just because you don't make a sale, doesn't mean you won't make a sale.  Push those business cards!
6. Bigger isn't better.  Many of my prints are 16x20".  They're really nice, but that's also a big commitment for many.  I had a lot of people ask for my larger prints in smaller sizes, and I just didn't have them.  This was a big error as many of my nicest pieces are in 16x20".
7. Know your space!  If there is one thing I learned, a 6x5' booth was not quite big enough for my work.  It's very cramped, and often it meant that when people were looking at my work, I had to leave my booth and it also meant other interested passerby's couldn't get in either.  A crowd draws a crowd, so it's important that everyone has an opportunity to come in when things are picking up. 
8. Never be bored.  I avoided my phone for the whole show.  During slow times, I actually sketched and worked on watercolours (I have posted some of the better sketches below).  This actually helped to draw people in as people love to see artists actually working, which leads me to another point, do not assume that people know you are selling your own work.  There are a lot of people their selling content that they did not make.
9. Some things are out of your control, don't dwell on them.  You can't choose where you are, or who you are with.  I was sort of away from the rest of the artists and over by some of the larger more established booths.  My neighbours were great people, but I think I would've had more success had I been where the other artists were as this is where customers looking for art are well...looking for art.  I heard people walking past my booth saying, "I wish I knew about this place sooner", with a print in a bag.  C'est la vie.  I understand that a lot of consideration goes into providing repeat artisans with the best spots available, and I am new to this.  I still had a great experience, and made the best of it.
10. There are so many little things you need that you never thought you needed.  From bags, to clips, to hooks and hangers.  Make sure you give yourself time to get all the things you will need, and maybe even engage with someone who has experience and can give you advice on what you need and maybe even lend or give you some display stuff, because that stuff gets expensive!

It went well, but not amazingly well.  I made money on the weekend, and even more so based on sales surrounding the market (before and after sales online).  I handed out a lot of business cards.  I was hoping to do better, but as one vendor pointed out to me, "everyone wishes they did better".  Well yeah...also "everyone starts out small".

That's the real thing to keep in mind, you can't just start out making fists full of cash.  You start small, you build a fan base and you exercise some patience.  You take what you learned, and you apply it to the next time.  I suppose by now it's obvious that I will try this again, in fact, I've already started applying for spring shows.  I also want to try other markets aside from Market Collective (not that I have a problem with them, on the contrary, I think they put on a great event), I just want to see what other events look like as well.

2018 has come and gone, I set out and I achieved my goal from that morning standing in a cramped building in Millarville making a life decision to start making art again, building a body of work (27 finished works in total), and developing and honing a new skill (watercolour and gouache painting), to applying for 2 shows, getting accepted to one, and following through with the show.  I've sold work online, to friends, and coworkers and complete strangers.  None of this would have been possible without that fateful moment in the Christmas Market where I made that decision.  It also helps to have a very understanding partner and wife who encourages me to pursue my passions and takes on the regular life duties on her own when I am sitting at the BMO center talking about birds and art.

What does 2019 hold for me in terms of art?  I am going to continue drawing and painting birds.  I have also made the decision to branch my subject matter out to Canadian wildlife, so if you like my work, but you don't want a bird hanging in your living room, stay tuned for wolves, and bears, and other great Canadian wildlife!  I will continue to challenge myself and develop my practice and skills.

​(some examples below of some new sketches that I worked on during Market Collective: DaVinci Travel Brushes round #6 and #12, and M. Graham watercolours set in a travel airtight Mijello palette on 9x12 hotpress Canson block and pen on paper)

​If there is anything else you'd like to know about doing an Art Fair, or making art, feel free to email me through the site!

Cheers,

and have a happy 2019!

Eric