Sharon Golding Designs

 Hello everyone, sorry I’m a little late with this post. Well this week has definitely been a printing week.  I have once again succumbed to the lure of linocut printing! I wanted a design centred around another of my hobbies, sewing.  I am upcycling a sewing box (which I will publish here later) and am considering using a linocut print to decorate. Having arranged some sewing elements - scissors, thimble, button and needle - I drew the design directly on to the Lino. Then I used my Lino gouger to cut away the area that was not part of the print - the part I cut away is the negative space around the design elements. As I am completely self taught in the art of linocutting I am not sure if my technique is correct, but it works for me.  At this stage I am reasonably happy with the result.  I had finished cutting and was happy with the linocut, so I tried a trial print to identify areas that needed more work. At this stage I felt either too much ink was used or I need to work more on the

Linocut Printing What a joy to discover something new, unique and beautiful in my craft skills.  Only a beginner at present but I'm loving what I have discovered so far.  Linocut printing.  Draw the design onto the Lino block, then cut away the negative space with the special tool, a sharp gouger which has different heads for different thicknesses. I enjoyed designing this bee and was delighted when it printed out so beautifully.  I must admit it took a couple of sessions to complete as it can be tiring on the hand and this was quite a large design.  But it was well worth it and I was very pleased with the result. I hope you like it too.  If you’re considering trying it out for yourself, go ahead, you won’t regret it! Best wishes Shari

Hello again,  Shari has been busy once again with painting a landscape.  It’s as easy as 1-2-3 … 1. Draw 2. Block in and 3 refine.   Of course after the refine there is something else needed and that is finding the One Thing.  That’s where we review the painting and look for the one thing that will improve the painting.  Live with the painting, keep it in sight each day and keep looking for the One Thing.  Eventually, it will jump out at you and niggle you so much that you have to fix it.  That’s when you figure out how to fix it and voila! Your painting is finished. Waterlily Lake   With this painting I had used a photo reference as a starting point.  I had drawn out my shapes on the canvas with thinned oil paint.  Then I blocked in the big shapes.  Having refined and put in the detail I was not really happy with the result.  So I set about finding the One Thing.  Of course there is more than one thing needed to fix this painting but I always just focus on one thing (at a time). First

 Hi Everyone, Shari is back in the room!  Well, in the blog anyway, 😂. I have been trying my skills again at the handmade rubber stamps.  I have designed a flower stamp and a logo for Sharon Golding Designs… just the initials. Having bought a supply of rubbers, I got out the gouger again and set to work.  After drawing my design and transferring it to the rubber (back to front so that it comes out correct when inked), I started removing the negative space around the design with the gouger.  Care must be taken especially close to the design as one false move could destroy the whole piece.  So if you do try this yourself, remember to take your time and remove just a little at a time. Using the gouger to remove the negative space around the flower design Taking care not to remove any petals from the design. After a while I used my trusty penknife to remove more rubber enabling the design to stand out. The penknife used with care flattened out the cutaway sections and really made the desi

 Hi Everyone! Shari here again, bringing you another crafty idea. If you’re anything like me and you use a bullet journal or diary then you maybe like to decorate it with stamping.  I got to thinking why do I always use shop bought rubber stamps for my Journal?  I really would love a unique stamp that is just my own.  One of a kind! Well, as you all know I’m very creative and will have a go at anything artistic. So I found myself a bunch of erasers and set about carving my own rubber stamp. I have a carving tool with my linocut equipment and using that and a Benchhook which is the wooden tool that goes over the edge of a bench and helps keep the Lino in place whilst you carve.  The carving tool is called a gouge and there are various sizes and shapes to choose from. First of all I needed a design and for my maiden stamp I settled for something simple like my initial - S. Next I checked out lots of font styles to find one I liked the look of (and could hopefully be successful in carving