So I did a lot to improve on my original design. First I thickened all of the lines so it would be easier to carve out. I was considering adding more to my piece to add a bunch of different layers and colors but I ultimately decided against it, I wanted to keep it very basic. So the only colors I am using are green for the grass and the dog's (I am naming him Hugo) collar. Also when the ravenous rabbits chase Hugo, they didn't look very ferocious. So I gave them fangs and angry eyebrows to make them look scary. Apparently we need to have a border around each print so they don't slide around the paper so I will have to add those. Another change I made was on the rabbit hole. It looked more like a football so I think that I will color it in.
Coming up with an idea for this was a lot harder than I originally thought it would be. My first idea was inspired by the YouTube video "Billy's Balloon". I wanted to do something that is funny but sad at the same time so I had an idea to have a race, in which the main character trips right before the finish line. Unfortunately this would have been way too complex to do a block print on so I scraped the idea. I finally was inspired by my dog who I saw chasing after rabbits in my yard. And because I wanted to keep some comedy in this piece I came up with the following idea: First it is just a happy bunny, but then a dog goes chasing the bunny into its rabbit hole. Then the dog sticks his face into the hole in search of this bunny or the way to Wonderland (we will never know) but then gets chased after by a pack of ravenous rabbits who, after the dog has run off, enjoy basking in the sun while waiting for their next victim.
Our new project is to make an eight page book with block prints. I am quite excited to bind the books! Anyway, our prints just can't be anything they all have to relate to each other in some way. So it can be a story (I want to do this one), a gradual reduction print, or any thing else that makes them go together. I think it would be most fun to tell a short simple story, although I don't know what my story would be about. The only part I am worried about is the actual carving because if you make a mistake, it is permanent. For this project we are only allowed one rubber sheet which is roughly the size of a sheet of paper and pretty thin. So to make eight different prints i will divide it into four pieces and use the front and back of each print. This means I will have to be extra careful not to carve all of the way through the sheet.
