Friday, 29 March 2024

Friday Face OFF -- Napping Cat

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party
of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

Here's a simple print of a cat napping among pillows
which I made 30 years ago at a weekend art workshop
held at a Benedictine Retreat Centre near Winnipeg.

An oldie but a goodie!
I've always liked it.


The print was made by drawing the design on a foam plate,
pressing down hard with a ball-point pen.

Due to the softness of the foam, this resulted
in grooves like a very simple form of etching.

Block printing ink was then spread on the image
and the plate was put face down on a piece of
shiny, high-gloss paper.

A small hand-held, hard rubber brayer was rolled over the plate,
the pressure of which transferred the ink onto the paper.

After the foam plate was removed and the paper dried --

Voilà! An easy-peasy masterpiece, LOL!

[Art © Debra She Who Seeks 1994;
Photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks 2024]

48 comments:

Tom said...

...neat print!!!

Mistress Maddie said...

Very beautiful Debs. And I thought it looked familiar, and then you explained the process. I have a good friend whose art is Asian art and themes and does this whole process herself for greeting cards and other things. It is very time consuming.

Boud said...

I love printmaking of all kinds. This cat is lovely, and I'm glad you've kept it.

DVArtist said...

OMGosh! It is so cool to have art 30 years old and still be in love with it. I too love this so much. Thank you for sharing with FFO and have a great weekend.

Sixpence Notthewiser said...

Whoa.
That didn't sound too complicated. I think I've seen the results of this technique and I find it fascinating.

XOXO

Valerie-Jael said...

Love your blue kitties! Hugs!

Moving with Mitchell said...

Purrfection! You have a gift.

Bob said...

Love it.

sirkkis said...

Happy Easter 🐣🐰

Kathy G said...

Cute!

Lady M said...

I how fat and pillow like the cat is.

Christine said...

Very nice

CAAC said...

This turned out nicely. I wonder if this is something I could do with things I have already on hand? It's worth giving a try and it'll be a fun experiment. Thanks for sharing!

bobbie said...

Adorable!
bobbie

Gidget Blue Sky said...

very cool!!

mxtodis123 said...

I love it.

Ellen D. said...

That's so cool!

Old Lurker said...

Did you frame it? How did you preserve it in such good condition for 30 years?

Magaly Guerrero said...

I love it! The cat looks happy and comfy, as if you had a fantastic time when art(ing) it to life.

Ur-spo said...

where I am the two cats nap all the day long.

Marie Smith said...

Love it! So creative!

Cleora Borealis said...

🤗 Pudgy kitty, puffy pillows, long whiskers...love it all!! 🥰

This N That said...

Love the plate.. Cute Print. I would think it would be hard to lay the plate flat enough because of its rim or did you cut it off? Have a happy Easter.

carol l mckenna said...

Wonderful and creative carving print of the cat ~ Wow!

Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
carol l mckenna

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Old Lurker -- No, I virtually never frame any of my art. This was simply put in a file folder in a drawer along with other old art pieces.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ This N That -- Yes, the rim was cut off the plate so it would lay flat.

Tundra Bunny said...

Cute cat art! Now that your artistic talents have been honed by all the classes you've taken, will you revisit this method of print-making?

I used to carve out images on white erasers to make rubber stamps, but it was too easy to forget that the images would be reversed when inked onto paper, LOL!

Carola Bartz said...

I love this print of the sleeping cat.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Tundra Bunny -- Yes, I'd like to try making some small prints again. We'll see what happens!

Tasker Dunham said...

I thought it was a lino print or wood cut at first. I guess they could produce multiple copies, but more difficult to make.

Mike said...

Back in the old days, we made stamps out of potatoes.

peppylady (Dora) said...

What a neat piece of creativity.

Joanne Noragon said...

It's a beauty!

Kirk said...

You've gone a bit abstract this time. Impressive!

Liz Hinds said...

You make it sound so simple! I feel inspired. I shall blame you for the outcome.

Jeanie said...

This is wonderful, Debra. I've never been able to master printing like this. I adore the cat!

Rosemary said...

Have you ever tried doing linocut prints as I suspect that you would be really good.

baili said...

Neat and excellent art wow ❤

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Rosemary -- Yes, I tried doing linocut prints many, many years ago but I found it too physically difficult to carve the lino, which was very tough. Nowadays, there is a softer version available, so I'm keen to give it another try sometime. We'll see how it goes!

My name is Erika. said...

Sorry I'm late stopping by. But I'm with you about that kitty. It is a Goodie. I hope you're having a great weekend. hugs-Erika

Fundy Blue said...

The cat print is beautiful, Debra! The white horizontal lines really make the cat and the pillows pop! Happy spring!

https://linsartyblobs.blogspot.com said...

A cute cat. I've used that process, it's very good.

Busy Bee Suz said...

Deb, this is a lovely print. I love the creativity in the process of making it too!

Richard said...

I like it. Thank you for sharing the process.

Linda said...

A foam plate? That is amazing. Lovely print!

e said...

If it were me, I'd frame it and hang it in the bedroom. It's a wonderful image!

roughterrain crane said...

Your cat is lovely.

Adam said...

Nice kitty