Wednesday, December 12, 2012

More progress on the coot linocut

Things are moving ahead in the studio this week.... a little erratically, perhaps, but they are moving.

A recap of where we were a few days ago:


The third pass on this reduction linocut gave the water ripples more variety, but I decided it wasn't quite enough. I did some more carving and then applied another ochre-to-green pass on the right side of the imge.

More interesting, don't you think?

So now it's time, as I suggested before, to spend a little time with our buddy the coot. It's a funny sort of business here because he's mostly backlit. In case you're not familiar with the American coot, it's a dark gray bird with a black head. I find it challenging to hit the right value in cases like this... There are still some very dark reflections intended in the water and I don't want the bird to either stand out too much or get lost in the dark-to-come. Hm.

This first gray seemed a little wishy-washy, but I tried not to worry about it too much. Hardly any of it will remain in the final image.


Today I added a darker gray, and I flip-flop between thinking it's good and thinking it's too dark. Subsequent passes will decide whether I do, indeed, flip or flop.
 

Everything's a bit wet now, so there will be a pause of a couple of days before much more happens with this piece.

6 comments:

  1. I so enjoy following along with your process. Can't wait to see what comes next! xxoo

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  2. It's growing beautifully. I just had a look at some of the prints on your website and will start saving. I'd love something to hang on my wall to inspire me!

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  3. He's coming alive. Another one following the progress of this one ...how many colours I wonder? :)

    AnnL

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  4. Gee, I kinda wonder what comes next, too. And how many colors. I think 4 more, but could be wrong. I often am. ;-)

    Angie and Wendy... any relation?

    Hm. And Angie reminds me that the website needs updating. (sigh) It never ends.

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  5. No relation I think. I'm in the UK and I don't think my husband's family has any links to the US.
    Sorry about the website comment :-)

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  6. I love this little coot already! Can't wait to see what happens next when the prints are dry enough to for the next four or five or however many colors....

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Linocut in Progress: The Third Act

Time to wrap up this linocut ! And we are wrapping at warp speed (see what I did there?)... because there are deadlines. Exhibition deadline...