Custom print edition for Kai

2022.04.01

A grey linoleum block sitting on top of a notebook. The linoleum is carved with zodiac animals and foliage.

Lauren is an amazing artist and I feel so lucky to work with her on such a personal project. All I knew was that I wanted something that honored my family, and Lauren was able to ask me insightful questions that resulted in a beautiful piece. I felt like this whole process was a partnership and the end result is a piece that I have such a strong emotional connection to.

—Kai

Kai reached out to me in early 2022 about creating a unique Christmas gift for her siblings. Inspired by a previous custom print edition I worked on, she asked me to design a piece featuring the zodiac animal of each member of my her family and to create a small edition of blockprints, one print to gift to each of her siblings.

I sent over a list of questions to get to know her family and their personalities, details about heritage, and favorite hobbies and places to visit. A couple of emails later, I felt like I had enough information to put together an image where each visual element paid homage to some aspect of the family’s culture, history, and memories.

Design

I sent over a list of questions to get to know my customer’s family, and we exchanged several emails so I could gain a good understanding of personalities and hobbies, and the families collective history, culture, and shared memories.

I started the design by creating a series of rapid thumbnails, each one measuring 1 or 2” on a side and scribbled in pencil in my notebook. After amassing a large collection of quick pencil sketches, I digitized my favories so that I could play with scale. Not shown in the following design snapshots are the piles of tracing paper I went through as I redrew the orientation of kabocha leaves, the petals on the sunflowers, or the facial expression and poses of the animals.

A horizontal b&w rough sketch of 5 zodiac animals centered within a dark background with haphazardly placed sunflowers, shisa, squash leaves, and water swirls. — I briefly tried surrounding the animals with an all-dark background before abandoning this idea: the viewer's eye was drawn to the higher-contrast border details rather than the central imagery. I also eventually switched from a horizontal layout to a vertical one to mirror the tall cluster of animals and to create a more cohesive frame.

A horizontal b&w rough sketch of 5 zodiac animals in a dark cartouche, surrounded by a light background filled with sketched sunflowers, shisa, squash leaves, water swirls, and mountains. — I briefly tried surrounding the animals with an all-dark background before abandoning this idea: the viewer's eye was drawn to the higher-contrast border details rather than the central imagery. I also eventually switched from a horizontal layout to a vertical one to mirror the tall cluster of animals and to create a more cohesive frame.

The last digital sketch above is similar to the initial design I showed to my customer. I incorporated Kai’s feedback and after another round or two of modifications, she approved the design.

Carving and printing

A closeup view of the partially carved grey linoleum block showing a carved shisa, sunflower, zodiac ox, and partial monkey face. The rest of the block is stained a darker grey and has pen drawings outlining the rest of the design. — The carving process takes multiple days and produces lots of little linoleum shavings.

A closeup view of the partially carved grey linoleum block showing several carved stalks of sugar cane. — The carving process takes multiple days and produces lots of little linoleum shavings.

Using tracing paper, I transfer the digital sketch onto a sheet of battleship grey linoleum then go over the lines in pen. In order to increase contrast and visibility when cutting into the block, I stain it using a pot of India ink. And then I begin carving! A block of this size will usually take anywhere between 8 and 24 hours to carve, with the carving split between multiple days to prevent hand fatigue.

After initial carving, I’ll make a couple of test prints to check the block, then I’ll go in and carve any revisions. This usually involves removing unnecessary high spots and chatter, slimming down thin lines, and increasing the thickness of carved channels.

The next step involves picking colors. I designed this blockprint with the intention of printing it in a solid color, and tried out several different variations of dark blue. Each color was hand-mixed by me from a basic CMYK color palette; for this design, the blue I chose was a mix of cyan, magenta, and opaque white.

A hand holds a white piece of paper with two smears of paint, one blue and one purple. Both are labeled '3/2022 M, C, White'. In the background there is a glass inking plate with swatches of blue and purple ink, as well as a brayer covered in blue ink. — I created test prints using purple, royal navy, and steel blue, before ultimately choosing the royal navy.

6 rectangular pieces of paper, each printed with a small portion of the full block. The 2 larger papers at top are royal navy design on white paper; the 4 smaller papers below them are a dark steel blue on slightly off-white paper. — I created test prints using purple, royal navy, and steel blue, before ultimately choosing the royal navy.

Then it was time to prep paper (cotton printmaking paper hand-torn to size to produce a deckle edge) and get to printing. I inked up the block, pressed the paper into the block (using a combination of printing press and glass baren), then laid the prints out to dry. Afterwards, I signed, numbered, and titled each print (with a title chosen by my customer), then carefully packed them up and shipped them out.

3 white rectangular sheets of paper printed with the same blockprint design in a dark royal blue. The design features an ox, two monkeys, a boar, and a snake against a dark background, surrounded by a sunflower, shisa, plants, and mountains/water. The prints are laid out on textured white paper, and partial prints are placed on the table above. — The final prints as the ink was drying.

Are you interested in commissioning a custom print edition? Send your idea to me via email at hello@laurennishizaki.com or through my contact form. I’ll respond with a quote and next steps!