FLASHBACK: "MOON" MAKING!

This time last year, we were hard at work on "THE MOON" woodcut and *wow* was it ever a project! We spent many a night & day hunkered over these big blocks drawing & carving. And we loved every minute of it. We learned all of the oceans and seas, we thought long and hard about the space-battered surface of crater wells & dusty dunes. Hours and hours of drawing and dreaming about the moon. What a marvel it is!

We continue to find photos that we took to document the making of the print (as above, turning the jigsawed moon shape into place in the sky with a screwdriver)! Root through all of our photos up online in this PHOTO SET.

Prints are still available from the limited edition, but no telling for how long. Gift or get your very own 'MOON' & stars HERE.

"THE MOON", A GUIDE MAP FOR SUPERMOON

Tycho! Copernicus! Sea of Nectar! Ocean of Storms! In celebration of this weekend's Supermoon, here's a little guide map to "THE MOON"! 

The moon's craggy grey terrain is imaginatively brought into focus in this new large-scale print. This 36" x 32" hand-drawn, hand-carved woodcut celebrates the moon as a popular icon of wonderment and also serves as an interpretive map to familiar geographic locations on the moon's distant, silvery surface! 

The labels on "THE MOON" print above are not part of the final printed image. Just there for reference, y'all. The finished print can be viewed & purchased, framed or unframed on our site HERE. Limited edition of 200 prints (act fast, only 25% of the edition remains!) 

"THE MOON" is a collaborative artwork, created start to finish by the two of us here at Tugboat Printshop (Paul-n-Valerie).  We make all of our traditionally crafted prints by carving original drawings in low relief on blocks of birch plywood and then print them onto archival paper to create the finished artworks. 

"THE MOON" PRINT, FRAMED!

Tugboat Printshop's framing service is back in action and "THE MOON" print can now be purchased framed directly from our website! Pictured above & below in our oversize natural walnut frame with spacers, our frames display artworks simply & elegantly and are also eco-friendly! 

All frames are custom made to order by hand, from quality, local PA lumber (oak, walnut, or maple) using all archival materials. Available with spacers or cut mat window options. 2-3 weeks for delivery. Contact us if you'd like a special quote!

Also, thanks to some great recent press on DESIGN*SPONGE and THIS IS COLOSSAL, copies of "THE MOON" are going really fast! If you have been waiting to pick up your copy, don't wait too long! 

PRINTING "THE MOON" KEY

While we almost always print as a team, printing "THE MOON" especially requires the team effort, with sheets of paper each over 36" x 31" and the blocks nearly the size of our press bed! Each of us rolls one of the two jig-sawed blocks (the moon shape, the sky) that, after inking, are fit together into one and print as the final layer of ink over the silvery grey block, finishing "THE MOON" print.  It is a slow, rhythmic process, with great care and precision taken to make sure that each block is carefully and uniformly rolled with ink and, then, that each is locked into position exactly where it needs to be before printing through the press onto paper. 

It's a pretty magical experience each time we pull a finished print off the press!

"THE MOON" woodcut is a limited edition of 200 prints, available for purchase framed or unframed in our online shop. You can also see bunches of photos chronicling  the development of this large scale artwork on our flickr.

SILVER GREY MOON LAYER

The first layer to print on "THE MOON" print is a silvery grey. The wood block texture really prints nicely in this run! 

Final print size is 36" x 31". You can now see the finished 'MOON' print & get a copy of your very own online HERE! 

PARTY FOR "THE MOON" PRINT!

This Friday, April 5th, from 5-8pm, we are having a release party to celebrate & unveil "THE MOON" woodcut print! 

Enjoy light refreshments at this free & family friendly event and take advantage of this rare opportunity to learn about traditional woodcut printmaking from artists & printers Paul Roden and Valerie Lueth. Bring along a pal or a bunch of friends, the more the merrier! Party takes place from 5-8pm at our studios (298 Main St. in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh)

The party will be themed for "THE MOON" print, but we actually have a handful of new prints to celebrate, AND are about to jumpstart our frameshop so everything you see on the walls will basically be available framed & ready to go. PLUS we'll have a couple of our latest BIG works in progress on display, for those curious about process & eager to see what's coming up from Tugboat Printshop…
A good time to stop by, we hope to see you!

"THE MOON" is a 35.5" x 30.5" color woodcut print on BFK Paper. 

Also, feel free to join & share the MOON EVENT ON FACEBOOK!

PRINTING THE MOON

Wow! We're getting really, really close to having our latest print, "THE MOON" readily available! Sure have learned a lot working on this project…about what the two of us can accomplish as a team in a short amount of time (lots of plans for more big work in 2013!) and also how small our in-home studio gets when we are printing big works! Big blocks, big stacks of paper and newsprint, big slabs of ink, big rollers--every surface piling up and used to the max. We have to print the edition in batches due to space constraints. But, they are getting done and looking really good, people!

Working in a medium like woodcut, there are always unforseen hurdles and its very difficult to estimate exactly how long any one task can take (though we are getting better at this, believe us!) When the task of carving of all of the blocks for a particular print is finished, we start proofing our colors. Every time color changes, blocks have to be stripped & rollers cleaned. Rolling ink on the block itself takes a good chunk of time. Every new block we roll up with ink is different, from a different tree with different grains and evenness of ply. A lot of troubleshooting happens to get our prints to the 'thumbs up' stage. We probably proofed "THE MOON" over 25 times (25 different variations) before we were happy with the way our color was working. A medium like woodcut can be grueling and slow, but we love it.

We don't always spend a lot of time talking about these little details, but in the new year we are going to start talking more about the specifics of our craft. We'll share it all here, on our blog!

Pre-orders for "THE MOON" will start shipping out on a first in, first out basis starting today. We thank everyone for their orders and their patience. Everyone should have their pre-ordered prints real, real soon! 

Prints of "THE MOON" can still be purchased for a limited time at the introductory rate HERE. Orders will ship first in, first out until we have the edition printed in full. A little deal for a little wait! When we finished editioning, the price of "THE MOON" will go up.

PRINTING THE MOON

A few shop pics of the two of us printing the first run of color on "THE MOON" woodcut. The first block is printed as one big, silvery grey flat. The jigsawed blue & black keyblock prints atop this layer to complete the print. 

You can see the first proof of "THE MOON" here! 

THE MOON WOODCUT

The first proof of "THE MOON"! We are now in the process of publishing this print here at Tugboat (requires some reconfiguring of our space to handle the scale!). We expect the first batch to be able to ship out from Pittsburgh the 2nd week of January. 

"THE MOON" has been a real hit over the holidays! We are planning to print an edition of 200. If you'd like a copy, they are still available for a limited time at the introductory rate HERE. 

"THE MOON" is a 35.5" x 30.5" woodcut print on White BFK paper. Two blocks larger than the size of the paper were hand-drawn and hand-carved to produce this image (the blocks print bleed off the deckled edges of the paper). 

BACKDROP FOR THE MOON

Some photos of the newly drawn in backdrop of stars for "THE MOON" woodcut. Livens it up a bit, don't you think?  We've been hearing a lot of love from internet land about this one ~ and we can't wait to show you how it looks (and see for ourselves!) We will first have to finish this carving, then transfer to our second color block, and carve that. Then, proofing! Whew! Soon, so soon!

FYI We used a blue pen to make the backdrop drawing, but is not necessarily the final printed color.

Many of the prints to be editioned are already spoken for, but there's still time to get your copy HERE!

MORE MOON!

Wrapping up the carving on the moon image for "THE MOON" woodcut. Then, on to the backdrop!

NEAR & FAR, THE MOON

Carving has begun! We are well on the way to finishing the first block of "THE MOON." Hoping to be started on the second by the weekend, but we'll also be at HANDMADE ARCADE!  We'll have the block along with us in our booth, just in case you want to stop by and take a look in person.  

"THE MOON" will be a 36" x 32" woodcut printed from 2 woodblocks. The block above will print 2 colors (the yellow line above is our jigsaw line to cut out the moon, the surrounding background will be further developed). Another block will be drawn and carved for the backdrop as well. Expect silvery greys, and twinkly white stars!

Tried to capture the scale of this piece in the photos above, it is quite big! Our largest collaborative woodcut to date! We're offering it right now at an amazing intro rate for the holidays. You can see the drawing in better, upright perspective and check out all the landmarks HERE. Okay! Back to work! More soon!

THE MOON

The biggest piece we've tackled to date--AND we have a special offer for the holidays to be able to get one at a really great price!

Subject of myth, fable, story and wonderment…our constant extraterrestrial partner, producer of tides and stepping stone to the great abyss beyond…THE MOON!

We look to the sky knowing that shining little circle is out there, it's radiant face reflecting light down through the dark of night. Nestled into a backdrop of twinklin stars (yes, this print will have those!), "THE MOON" is blown up to fantastic degree, illustrating the terrain and seas of craggy grey surface, both a map and an image. 

Really just so excited about this new print in the works that we can hardly contain ourselves! Shown above is the key block being drawn in for this new 36" x 32" print. "THE MOON" is now available for a limited time intro pre-order rate (delivery by Dec. 25th!) on our site.