This is a one-of-a-kind print that combines several printmaking techniques, including linocut, trace monotype and stencil. It's part of a series of artworks depicting the final approach into San Francisco International Airport (SFO) as you fly over the Bay and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. The East Bay hills, including Mt. Diablo, are in the background.

Landing at SFO Airport

The unframed print is on white paper measuring about 14" x 22" and comes numbered (1/1), titled ("Approach I") and is signed in pencil. It’s available in my shop.

My newest linoleum block print is of an airplane window seat view at dusk. It's printed with Schmincke Aqua Linoprint Ink on 250 gsm Stonehenge paper. I was playing with that feeling of flying over a city and looking out at the sprawling, lit up urban landscape below.

I remember that great 1990's Liz Phair song, "Stratford-On-Guy," which starts off with the lyrics, "I was flying into Chicago at night...." That song's video on YouTube is definitely worth a watch. And, for a deep dive into that track, check out PopMatters' take on it.

Here's a little video I made while printing the final layer on my small press, which is a Blick Econo Etch Model II Press. The linocut is part of a series of airplane window view artworks and is now available in my Etsy shop. If you have any questions about how my prints are made, please feel free to email me!

Printing an airplane window view linocut on an Econo Etch Model II Etching Press

I've got a long history of exploring airplane window views in my art, as no surprise to many of you. For instance, I use this aerial view from a plane window linocut a lot online for marketing purposes and it was also used as a book cover. I did a black and white airplane window seat print, too.

I always try to snap some photos from the window seat as references pictures, though, these days, I'm often sitting in the middle and leaning over my son or daughter who are enthralled with something else. Here are a few photos of the sky, land patterns, clouds and airplane wings that I used for my newest art project.

Some references photos for my new airplane window seat print

I wanted to do something a little different with this new print, allowing for more spontaneity and experimenting. First, I did some simple illustrations to play with compositions and colors. I came up with a rough plan and used masking tape to block off areas of a linoleum block while inking the plate for the background sky. I printed several different layers on top of each other. A separate lino block was used for the black layer. Here's a shot from Instagram that helps illustrate the process.

Airplane Window View Linocut Work in Progress

Since I peeled off the tape before printing, I can't print an edition of identical prints but I used some of the lighter ghost prints that I got from the same block. As a result, no two prints are exactly the same.

These are two early versions that I printed on my Blick Econo Etch Model II Press and I'm continuing this series of window seat prints. The new linocut prints are available in my Etsy shop where I have numerous travel and airport prints for sale. 

Two versions of the new airplane window view print. Printed on my Blick Econo Etch Model II Press.

Last year, the publisher Uitgeverij Van Oorschot approached me about using one of my aviation-themed linocut prints as the cover illustration for a new book project. It's for their Dutch translation of the Antoine de Saint-Exupery book titled, "Pilote de Guerre" ("Oorlogsvlieger" in Dutch). You might know the French author (and aviator) from his classic book, "The Little Prince."

They chose my block print, "On the Way" for their book cover design. The print is made from three hand-carved linoleum blocks. In the photo below, I'm preparing to print the final block with the airplane wing and engine.

Airplane linocut print used for the book cover

Here's how the publisher used my print in their book cover design. I'm absolutely thrilled to have played a small part in this exciting project!

Nu verkrijgbaar! Oorlogsvlieger van Antoine de Saint-Exupéry #oorlogsvlieger #antoinedesaintexupéry

A post shared by Uitgeverij Van Oorschot (@uitgeverijvanoorschot) on Nov 24, 2016 at 2:41am PST

I recently finished a new airport print featuring a departure sign (I talked about this art project and my passion for airports in this previous post). The linocut print is inspired by the big departure boards hanging in international airport terminals, particularly the older ones like the flip-disc and split-flap displays. The split-flap boards made by companies such as Solari di Udine are probably the most iconic type. This article about artists using departure boards from Atlas Obscura (thanks to my friend who sent this to me!), talks about how a lot of these boards are being taken out of airports and train stations and being replaced by digital displays.

"Departures" - Airport Departure Board - Linocut Print

This new print was a lot of fun to conceptualize and plan. I really got to geek out on the details. It's made from two hand-carved linoleum blocks (not three like I was initially planning). I first printed the yellow layer to give the text and signage its color, and once that layer was dry, I printed the black on top.

This new linocut poster - "Adventure Awaits" - was printed from a hand-carved block of linoleum with Caligo oil-based relief ink on white Stonehenge printmaking paper. It's currently available in my Etsy shop.

"Adventure Awaits" - Lino Print