MAKING A RUBBING

Before rolling ink a carved block, we usually sneak in a quick rubbing to see how the carving went. Pictured here is the "OVERLOOK" key. It's so neat to see the carving appear on paper as a drawing once again!

ALMOST THERE!

We're almost ready to begin proofing color on the "COMMUNITY" woodcut! Excited!

"COMMUNITY" woodcut prints will be finished & ready for local pick-up starting May 30th! To celebrate the date, we're hosting Happy Hour Open Studios here at Tugboat from 4:00-7pm! (May 30)

Online orders will ship the following week!

More about this new work in progress HERE.

TUGBOAT'S PRINTSHOP, PITTSBURGH

Inside our little home-sweet-home printshop in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh. Where we print all of our woodcut print editions, on a 36" x 60" Conrad etching press. It's a small, tidy space and we make the most of it! The bulk of our carving we do down in our basement headquarters, photos of that to come. Maybe. 

BLOCK #2,"RUBY RED ROSE"

We'll use these two carved blocks to create the finished "RUBY RED ROSE" image. The purple-ish block you see above will print in ruby red, the key as a dark.

The "RUBY RED ROSE" now has a page in our online shop! The finished print will be in our next newsletter, join up for details! 

All-in-all, we're quite pleased with how the 'ROSE' is coming along, a cheery image to work on during these dreary & bitter cold mid-atlantic winter days. We confess we're burrowing a bit in our lair-like basement, making new headquarters for drawing, carving & prints galore. 

Lots more soon!

CARVING "RUBY RED ROSE"

PRINTING YELLOW GOLD

Here we are, printing yellow gold on the new "MOTH" print. Our first time printing with Okawara paper, so appropriately translucent & fluttery! We wanted to try to show you how lovely it is to look at the buttery glow of the yellow block's printed silohuette, sunlight streaming in through the studio windows. The key block (last photo above, in dark ink) prints atop this layer to make the finished print. It's really nice. Quite very happy with how this print turned out!

"MOTH" prints are ready to go, shipping out daily! Get one HERE.

"TREE SWING" WOODCUT EDITION

Happy to welcome a new print to the shop today, the charmingly curio sized "TREE SWING" woodcut! Printed from 2 blocks onto Natural Japanese Kitakata Paper. Final size is an adorably petitie 6" x 5.75".

Blending dusty rose & weathered brown, "TREE SWING" imagines a favorite place, a meet-up spot, a carefree zone. A special little somewhere thoughts can swoosh in & out with the breeze. Edition of 100, now available HERE!

"TREE SWING" WOODBLOCK PRINT

The "DESERT ISLAND" color blocks continue to progress (updates really, really soon!), and alongside those big blocks we've been handing back & forth some other stuff (woodblocks) too!

As you may know, Tugboat Printshop is just the two of us, husband and wife, Paul and Valerie, collaborating to make artwork, usually woodcut prints. Every aspect of the making of our prints is done, start to finish, by the two of us working together.  We work on many blocks at a time, handing everything back and forth lots of times. Projects are always happening simultaneously.

In any event, we guess we're trying to let you know that there is a whole lot to anticipate here at Tugboat Printshop this Fall! We've been working like crazy and there is lots of new, lots to come! You should really stay tuned.

For the present, here's a peek at the tiniest of the batch of blocks we have in the works, a wee little image that we will probably be titled "TREE SWING". Coming soon to OUR SHOP!

PROOFING THE MOON

RAINBOW EARTH COLOR

Rainbow roll for the "EARTH" print's 1st block…this one. A series of four woodcut prints, each representing one of the four Elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water).

We'll be debuting the Elements set on pre-order this week! Check back in a few days or join our mailing list on our site to be the first to hear the news!