50/100
I’m halfway through my 100 Day Project and I’m still having fun. This year, I am working on improving my printmaking skills. The project was going to be about all kinds of printmaking, but letterpress has taken over, and that’s probably for the best.
I thought I would work on monoprinting, collagraphy, woodblocks, and every other type of printing I could think of. I realized that when I was trying all the things, I wasn’t improving in any one thing, so I let letterpress printing become the project's focus. The papers I am creating are quickly used in my collages and that’s better than having stacks and stacks of papers I don’t know how to use crowding my studio.
I’ve settled into a few consistent types of prints to work on:
Simple and Graphic
Letters arranged in unsual ways to create shape and line
Typography
Using a variety of numbers, letters, or different versions of the same letter.
Layers
Multiple prints to create layered prints
Color
This has been a great project to teach me about color
This last development, working with color, has had a major influence on my collage art. I’ve been focused on learning composition, so had removed colors from my work in order to simplify the decisions I had to make. I started to run low on my favorite black and gray paints, and started mixing up everything else I had as I printed. My color wheel has become essential to my practice for both composing prints and mixing colors. I’ve been using this one because one side has a tool for color harmony and the other side is for color mixing.
Now that I have piles of colorful papers, I’ve started using them in my collages, which has led to more learning and my next collection.
This is my third 100-Day Project, and every time I’ve seen improvement. As with any daily practice, you’ll see yourself getting better because you are showing up every day.
The official 100-Day Project is starting soon, and if you are thinking about taking part, here are some suggestions:
Don’t overthink your project. Just have a basic idea of what you want to explore
If you aren’t enjoying the project, switch to something else
If you miss a day, or even many days, don’t worry. Just post again and keep going
Have a few extra pieces ready to post for the days when you can’t or don’t feel like making art
Follow the #100dayproject hashtag for inspiration and community
Find a friend and do the project together (different projects are fine). You’ll cheer each other on and it helps to keep you accountable
Create a hashtag for your project so that people can follow what you do and so you can see the project altogether
You don’t have to post online. This can just be for you
This is supposed to be fun. If it’s a chore, then something isn’t right!