Making a Hand-Carved Stamp

I've always felt a connection with American Crows.  

They're intelligent, curious, and have a magical air about them.  

This crow photo, by Brad Silberberg, inspired a rubber stamp I made recently. 

I first made some sketches of the crow, then I chose one design to become the stamp.

I used a big pink eraser chunk for my rubber stamp. 

You can create stamps out of a variety of materials -- I've used corks, erasers & the soles of blown-out tennis shoes.  You can also buy "Speedy Cut" rubber blocks from Speedball.  They're uniform in texture and easy to cut into with carving tools or an X-Acto knife.

I chose a sketch and transferred the design onto the pink eraser by coloring on a scrap piece of paper with a 4B graphite pencil, then placing that face-down onto the stamp.  I placed my sketch on top, and traced over an outline of the drawing with a pencil to transfer the design.

As I carved out the crow, I began playing with doodles in the margins. I ended up wishing I had left more material above the crow's head to carve swirls into.  Though there's no "undo" button in stamp-carving, I can easily create another stamp.  Artists often work in a series.

I inked up the stamp with Ranger permanent black ink for a first test. 

I liked the design, but decided to simplify it -- editing out the marks in the space outside the crow.

I used to be impatient to finish a project like this and put it to use, but I now realize that the therapeutic power of art lies in the tinkering process as well as in expressing my unique vision.

Here's a look at the final crow stamp.  

I'm happy with the simplified look, and stamped up a bunch of stationery.

A home-made stamp like this is wonderful for decorating journals, for adding to mixed-media projects, or simply making greeting cards.

Playing around with art supplies with no goal other than to create for your own joy helps a person to drop into timeless time, into a place of peaceful exploration, into that blissful, childlike experience of creating. All the cares of the day fall away, and a person can relax into their own world of creativity.

I hope you take time to be creative for your own delight & relaxation this week.