Should I go back and finish the story of the lino-in-progress cliffhanger, or jump right in to exciting new workshop news?
Loose ends do not appeal to my sense of order, so even though I'd love to regale you right away with action-packed woodcut adventure stories, I'll take us back to the linocut that started in the July 27th post.When we last left our feathered hero we were on color #8, so let's wrap this thing up, shall we?
I quite liked the effect of the lighter color over the darker. It's something I've experimented with a few times, and after this past week will be doing quite a bit more of. I think. Still, I wanted some more contrast, so back to a darker color I went.
At this point I was pretty pleased with it, but the little warbler had some small amounts of black in its face that still needed to be added. But I didn't want to have too MUCH black... I was afraid it would be overpowering. So I did something I hadn't done before.I made a plan.
Shocking, isn't it? But I thought myself very clever. I made a scan of the print at this stage, printed out a couple of color inkjet copies, and went at it with a black marker. I drew three different versions, which I now realize I threw away before getting to this post. Sorry I can't show them to you.
At any rate, I decided on this version, with a black border that goes behind the vegetation and some selective keylining. Fun, eh?
"Legacy," 10-color reduction linocut, 6" x 6"I'm afraid I still have to keep you in the dark about precisely what this critter is for, but I'll introduce the award and its winner at the end of the month, after the presentation is made.
It's funny to look at this piece now that I have a week of printmaking workshop behind me. I can see about a zillion things I'd do differently. Well, maybe not a zillion. But close. Can't wait to show you!
This is a gorgeous piece!
ReplyDeleteCynthia Schelzig...a.k.a. Cynnie
The little warbler is lovely. We artist piss and moan about the burden of keeping up with technology,(Twits etc, that take us away from our studios...) but it's a godsend IN the studio.
ReplyDeleteDon't know what to do at a certain stage? Take a photo,or scan, print and then draw on it to find the solution! Brilliant planning. Just did that with a carving. It worked too.
The dark lines really bring out the subject. Phenomenal. I also like the way the border is in the background.
ReplyDeleteVery nice!
Love the warbler. The colors meld so nicely and the touch of black just makes him pop. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is very good. I like the way you have done the border behind the image.
ReplyDeletei really like the selective black, works really well :D
ReplyDeleteWell, thank you everyone! Just goes to show that a little planning once in a while can go a long way, eh? Patrick and I both endorse the "make a scan and draw on it" method.
ReplyDeleteThe background border is a "mistake" that really worked out, I think. I hadn't intended a border at all, which is why the initial cuts all left the picture plane. No way to go back and put in a solid border after that, but I think this is much more interesting!
love it!
ReplyDelete