From the technical perspective, this was too big with too much dark space to print with regular water-based ink. Water-based ink dries too quickly, so that the first areas inked are already drying by the time the last areas are inked and the paper is pressed. So this was a job for Caligo Safe-wash oil-based ink. I just bought some colors of Caligo and this was my first use of the phthalo green. Not only did the slow-drying consistency work well for my purposes here, but I really love the color. I want to print with dark green quite often, and usually mix some black with the standard Speedball green to get it, but piney phthalo green is so much prettier. Extra bonus: the green has hardly any odor compared with the Caligo black.
From the creative content perspective, this is the sixth piece in my ongoing series of little fantasy towns in interesting places. “Series” is a loose term; I never planned any particular number, or brainstormed ahead of time where the different towns would be. It’s really more of a recurring theme. The idea of little magical towns, of fantastical places for fantastical beings to live, is one that has always appealed to me since I was a kid. I was making fairy houses of natural materials forty years before the current trend for commercially made fairy house miniatures, and I can remember one summer drawing lots of pictures of little thatched cottages falling from the sky in raindrops. Now, of course, when a fun theme for a magical town occurs to me, I make a block print. The others so far in the series have been Tree Palace, Sky City (available as note cards here), Aspidochelone, The Open Book, and Bookby-upon-Shelf. For this garden village I had fun thinking about what plants in the garden might be inhabitable, and what beneficial insects might be living there along with the small people. I just hope the rabbits and chipmunks don’t destroy the whole town!
[Picture: Garden Apartments, rubber block print by AEGN, 2017.]
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