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31/1/14 13:19My intentions were good. Complicated, but good, in that if I was going to do a craft for Black History Month I did not want to do something half-assed or based in some monolithic idea of 'Africa,' which is mostly what you will get by browsing the "kid's crafts to learn about Africa!" books.
Which led me to adinkra.
I had previously had some failures with doing potato printing, so I was determined to do it right this time, using real artists' materials.
Of course, as soon as I hit the art supply store and saw the price of real artists' materials, I downgraded my sights from Speedy-Carve to the cheap little blocks of battleship lino.
Keep in mind I had up to this point not done any printmaking, any lino carving, or the like. I was armed with a set of Speedball linoleum cutters and my own self-confidence. (I generally have great faith in my ability to learn any craft up to public-library-craft-program standards within a couple of hours or so.)
It is actually really difficult and time-consuming to accurately carve linoleum.
It is much easier, it seems, to carve out your finger instead of the linoleum (though to this point I have given myself only minor injuries.)
I was going to delegate part of this to my colleague because I'm on vacation next week, but it seems like too much to ask her to take on.
Anyway, I am feeling better about this as I'm getting more practice in, but I should learn my lesson and recalibrate my sense of "I'm sure it couldn't be that hard!"
Which led me to adinkra.
I had previously had some failures with doing potato printing, so I was determined to do it right this time, using real artists' materials.
Of course, as soon as I hit the art supply store and saw the price of real artists' materials, I downgraded my sights from Speedy-Carve to the cheap little blocks of battleship lino.
Keep in mind I had up to this point not done any printmaking, any lino carving, or the like. I was armed with a set of Speedball linoleum cutters and my own self-confidence. (I generally have great faith in my ability to learn any craft up to public-library-craft-program standards within a couple of hours or so.)
It is actually really difficult and time-consuming to accurately carve linoleum.
It is much easier, it seems, to carve out your finger instead of the linoleum (though to this point I have given myself only minor injuries.)
I was going to delegate part of this to my colleague because I'm on vacation next week, but it seems like too much to ask her to take on.
Anyway, I am feeling better about this as I'm getting more practice in, but I should learn my lesson and recalibrate my sense of "I'm sure it couldn't be that hard!"