While Monsters Lay Sleeping

Before my brush with productivity last Sunday, in which I pulled enough for an edition of Lost Cake Anxiety, I had also scheduled this coming Sunday for studio time. Now, it's not like my friend bars the doors against me otherwise, she's extremely generous with her space, press (and, well, everything else. She's most excellent and a talented artist, to boot.)  That said, it seems wasteful to not take advantage of studio time. And then this evening, it hit me! I could easily carve an excerpt from an upcoming Cakeasaurus design, print up a bunch and use these for cards at the Rust Belt Market.

You'll be shocked to learn that the text accompanying this image reads, "Cakeasaurus dreamt of cake." He was originally snoozing in a more people-type bed, but then I decided I liked the idea of him sleeping with his tail curled near his nose. More doglike. He looks so harmless asleep. Doesn't everyone? Ahhh, how we get sucked in by vulnerability. The bunny was an afterthought. And yes, a dream cloud hovers above his head in the larger design. This is more of a peek.

So here we are, about to apply lacquer thinner to the wood in order to bleed the photocopy ink onto the wood surface. Works great!

Except when it doesn't. Why?? I rubbed my (lucky) wooden spoon on the paper, applied more thinner. No dice. The stripes weren't going to transfer. No ghost of a bunny. No nuance. Alas.

I wound up going over it with some carbon paper. Not as hoped, but it will have to do. I'll get some carving in tomorrow, as long as I manage to avoid heatstroke while walking around the Art Fair for a few hours.