Sometimes You Have To DIY It

I’m not sure if this is ingenious or just down right cheap and trifling. I’m an avid diarist. I’ve got drawers and footlockers full of diaries/journals, that honestly, I cringe to read through but yet can’t help but to continue writing. Typically it takes me one to two months to fill up a journal​ so I’m frequently heading to the corner store or local B&N in search for a new notebook, journal, diary or whatever I can find to write my thoughts in. (I also have a journal app on all my mobile devices.) But the journals I’m most fond of are the slim pocket journals that run about $15-20 a pop depending on where you get them. I’m close to finishing my current one and I just don’t feel like shelling out another $20 for a new one. So I made my own. I had some college ruled notebook paper, some cream colored cardstock, some minty dental floss and a hole puncher lying around to whip up this DIY journal. I know, it’s makeshift and not all that pretty but it will do for now. Actually I had fun doing it. For $20 I could go buy a pack of writing paper, some nicer cardstock and twine and make four or five journals, designing them to my own liking,  adding my own personal touch to them, like some drawings and whatnot instead of buying ones that are premade. So here’s my little DIY project for the day. 

…btw, the minty dental floss adds a nice wakeful aroma. 😊 

To Carve or Not To Carve

It’s been 10 months since I started this blog. I know, it’s not much cause for celebration but I feel that anything you can stick with for longer than three months (they say it takes about three months for something to become a habit) is a worthwhile achievement. So here’s to consistency. 🍻 

Anyhoo, when I came up with the title of this blog I wanted it to reflect what I do as an artist, hence “Carve & Draw” because that’s what I do, I carve and I draw. But to be honest, it now reflects more so what I used to do. You see, I do draw but I haven’t carved anything in some months now. Which isn’t unusual for me because typically my carving streak begins around September and ends in early March. It’s a seasonal thing for me that harkens back to my childhood years of staving off cabin fever during those long Alaskan winters. I’m far removed from Alaska now and it’s mid October but no urge to carve has fell upon me. Actually I’ve been so wrapped up in trying to better my craft in pointillism/stippling that I haven’t given much thought to designing carvings. So I woke up this morning with a question on my mind, “To carve or not to carve?” Well, for the time being I’m gonna have to go with letting my carving tools rest. I don’t feel that it’s a permanent decision, at least not for the time being. I still have a 12×12 piece of mounted linoleum that is collecting dust, so maybe one day I’ll eventually get around to carving it up, but for now, I’m going where my creative energy is flowing and it’s all gung ho on drawing. 

I’ve done quite a few carvings over the last year and a few are still available at www.qrumbley.com.

P.S. I’m not changing the name of this blog though. 😋

Butterflies

Butterflies

Butterflies – 5×7 linocut carving.

A Very Brief Demo On How I Carve Linoblocks

1. Tools:
linoleum block
Speedball cutter
my design
Sharpie  

In this brief demo I’ve decided to do the Chinese character for “peace” as my design
2. I draw out the design on the linoleum block and since I don’t intend on using this for making prints in the usual custom so I’m not concerned with reversing it.
3. The Speedball cutter comes with six cutters that provides various forms and shapes of cuts.
4. Using the #6 blade I trace my design so that the cut can provide a stopping point for when I start removing the linoleum.
5. Using the #4 cutter I start removing the linoleum from around the design.
6. With all of the linoleum removed, my design is ready for some color.
7. At this point I take a Sharpie and color in my design.
8. …and there you have it! “Peace” all finished.

More On My First Love

Lotus Buddha

Sun Mandala

Moon and Stars Mandala

2015 was a great year for doing more lino carvings and experimenting with larger sizes and a few other mediums. Some of my works turned out pretty well and subsequently was snatched up by a few lovely people. Now that it’s 2016 I plan to focus more on my first love, drawing and stippling, with the hopes of creating some amazing pieces. I’ll still be doing lino carvings here and there but I really tend to put more focus on honing my craft in stippling this year. So here’s to new adventures and new works of pen and ink mastery