Jake the Dog Hand-Carved Eraser Stamp
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    Jake the Dog Hand-Carved Eraser Stamp

    My next eraser stamp is Jake the Dog from the Adventure Time animated series. In the show, Jake can stretch his body just about any way he wants. I thought it would be fun to have his arms stretch to make the border for the stamp. Stamped on some of the gold card stock because Jake is yellow.

    An eraser stamp carved with an image of Jake the Dog from the Adventure Time animated series is positioned face-up across the upper right corner of a rectangle of pearlescent yellow/gold stock with an impression from the stamp in black. Both sit on a green crepe surface (green chirimen paper). Top-down view. An eraser stamp carved with an image of Jake the Dog from the Adventure Time animated series is positioned face-up across the upper right corner of a rectangle of pearlescent yellow/gold stock with an impression from the stamp in black. Both sit on a green crepe surface (green chirimen paper). View from the top, angled from the lower left.

    There is a 15-second stamping video on YouTube. The original version has a few seconds of the Adventure Time opening audio with the fist-bump synchronized to making the impression, but I have left it out due to the absurd copyright games played there.

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    Star Trek Command Insignia Eraser Stamp
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    Star Trek Command Insignia Eraser Stamp

    A Star Trek command insignia stamped in gold on black paper. The hand-carved eraser stamp that made the impression lays at an angle across the upper right corner of the paper.

    I carved a quick eraser stamp with a Star Trek USS Enterprise command insignia as a winking tribute to Star Wars Day (May the Fourth).

    I had some nice black card stock in the scrap bin that I cut down to ATC (Artist Trading Card) format size, and stamped using a metallic gold stamp pad. The metallic stamp pad inks take ages to dry completely. I suspect they are oil-based.

    I improved my design transfer technique again this time, too. It looks like citrus solvent works better than acetone to get the image from the laser print to the painted eraser.

    15-second tease video on YouTube.

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    Hand-Carved Princess Mononoke Mask Eraser Stamp
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    Hand-Carved Princess Mononoke Mask Eraser Stamp

    I don’t normally do a lot of fan art, but I have been re-watching a bunch of Studio Ghibli movies lately. After doing the soot sprite, I thought about Princess Mononoke‘s mask and had a thought for how it might work in eraser stamp format. I drew the design directly in Inkscape, and made laser prints for transfers again.

    I have seen people coat lino blocks with ink or paint before drawing or transferring a design in order to make it easier to see what has been cut away while carving. I tried using a color laser print that included a background color, but it did not transfer well. For this, I colored the surface of the eraser with a light blue acrylic paint pen before transferring the design with acetone. It worked okay, well enough to proceed. I have some other ideas for improvement I will try for the next one.

    This time, I did pretty much all of the carving with the lino knife. I was sure I would need the craft knife for some of the details, but was able to keep enough control of the pressure. There were just a few stubborn bits I used the craft knife to finish getting loose.

    I think the rough lino-cut style works really well with the theme on this one.

    A stylized wolf mask from the animated movie Princess Mononoke with a rectangular border has been stamped onto a rectangle of paper. The mask is a circle with circles for eyes and mouth. A couple of curved lines across the mask hint at eyebrows and nose. The circular face is surrounded by a shaggy mane and topped by two animal ears. Below the mask are three pointy objects reminiscent of horns on a necklace. The carved eraser stamp that made the impression is face up on one corner of the print. A red-handled lino cutting knife and the corner of a stamp pad are also visible. A stylized wolf mask from the animated movie Princess Mononoke with a rectangular border has been stamped onto a rectangle of paper. The mask is a circle with circles for eyes and mouth. A couple of curved lines across the mask hint at eyebrows and nose. The circular face is surrounded by a shaggy mane and topped by two animal ears. Below the mask are three pointy objects reminiscent of horns on a necklace. The carved eraser stamp that made the impression is face up on one corner of the print. A red-handled lino cutting knife and little bits of cut rubber are also visible. A stylized wolf mask from the animated movie Princess Mononoke with a rectangular border has been stamped onto a rectangle of paper. The mask is a circle with circles for eyes and mouth. A couple of curved lines across the mask hint at eyebrows and nose. The circular face is surrounded by a shaggy mane and topped by two animal ears. Below the mask are three pointy objects reminiscent of horns on a necklace. The carved eraser stamp that made the impression is face up on one corner of the print. A red-handled lino cutting knife and little bits of cut rubber are also visible.

    Two minute process video on YouTube.

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    Hand-Carved Soot Sprite Eraser Stamp
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    Hand-Carved Soot Sprite Eraser Stamp

    Apparently, it is the annual Monster Week in TTRPG circles, this year celebrating the fae. In honor of that, I carved another eraser, this time with a soot sprite.

    The susuwatari, or soot sprites, are a fabrication of famed animator Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. They appears in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away as tiny golfball-sized spirits of soot or dust.

    My vision for this was easy to sketch and a little more challenging to carve, but it came out recognizable.

    A rectangular pink rubber eraser with a soot sprite ship carved onto one face, the design highlighted in black laying face-up next to an imprint from the stamp on a piece of paper. The sprite is a cartoonish character, a fuzzy black ball with two simple eyes, and legs and arms that are simple curved lines. It is holding up a five-pointed star over its head. A rectangular pink rubber eraser with a soot sprite ship carved onto one face, the design highlighted in black laying face-up next to an imprint from the stamp on a piece of paper. The sprite is a cartoonish character, a fuzzy black ball with two simple eyes, and legs and arms that are simple curved lines. It is holding up a five-pointed star over its head.

    20 second stamping video on YouTube.

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    Hand-Carved Retro Rocket Eraser Stamp
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    Hand-Carved Retro Rocket Eraser Stamp

    I have been seeing other people carving small stamps out of erasers lately. @cactuscloudart on Instagram has a book out about doing this, for example. Erasers are cheap, particularly by the box, and this seems like an inexpensive way to try out lino plate carving. So, I grabbed some erasers and a set of lino carving tools.

    I know from experience that focused work cutting small details has a fair risk of cutting oneself. I had the idea of making a holder for the eraser to increase the average distance between my fingers and the carving surface of the eraser. The design is very simple but works well: it’s just a square of MDF with a cut out slightly smaller than the eraser so that the eraser will friction fit in the hole. It worked out really well.

    I modified my existing retro rocket ship design a little and printed it on the laser printer. I used a cotton swab dipped in acetone to transfer the toner to the surface of the eraser.

    This was fun and it seems like it came out okay for a first attempt. There are now a bunch of erasers here. So, I am sure there will be more eraser stamps.

    A rectangular pink rubber eraser with a retro-style rocket ship carved onto one face laying on a piece of paper that has been imprinted with the stamp. The tip of a lino carving tool is also visible. A square of 3mm thick MDF board with a rectangular hole about the size of the pink eraser sitting next to it. A square of 3mm thick MDF board with a rectangular hole with a pink rubber eraser pressed into it. A rectangular pink rubber eraser with a retro-style rocket ship carved onto one face, the design highlighted in black laying face-up next to an imprint from the rocket eraser stamp on a piece of paper. A rectangular pink rubber eraser with a retro-style rocket ship carved onto one face laying on a gridded cutting mat. The design stands out in black, having been covered with black ink. The tip of a lino cutting tool, a pile of rubber cuttings, and an archival ink pad are visible on the surface behind the rocket eraser stamp.

    Two minute carving video on YouTube.

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