Saturday, February 5, 2011

Printmaking as headache cure?

After an efficient morning of errand-running I cleared off my work space, as promised. I carved a bit. Noticed a headache. Got up and wandered around. Took some sinus meds. Carved some more. Noticed headache intensifying. Sat down to read. Got back up. Whined about headache to DM. Drank some tea.

Yeah, I think I'm fighting something sinus-y. After the pace of the last few weeks it's hardly surprising. Could just be the ongoing brittle-dry air and our brief-but-intense bout of outrageously cold weather. Or it could be Something I Don't Have Time For and Don't Want to Think About.

At any rate, I finally decided to at least mix some ink and see what happened. Attention to the block HAD to be better than attention to my head.

Last time on "Snow Shadows: The Next Generation." Snore.
After the last (green) pass on this linocut I was feeling pretty wishy-washy. That big dark shape was just B-O-R-I-N-G. Something needed to be done.

After some more mental waffling about whether the next color should be darker or lighter, I finally settled on darker and grayer. I wanted to suggest some background pines without going overboard.

Does that look different to you?
How about now?

It's subtle, but I think it made that annoying green shape a little more interesting. (Poor photos again, but trust me. It's better.) Just one more color to go now. Maybe. Maybe not.

The headache is still here, but it doesn't matter as much anymore. I've got a rack full of damp prints, which is always a cure for what ails me.

3 comments:

  1. Looking good! I know about the transitions and redoing of areas...I seem to be doing that with much of the painting I am currently working on. It means taking twice as long to complete it as I had planned, but that's life. It's funny how it gnaws at the back of one's brain when one KNOWS that a change has to be made in a piece and won't go away until it is done...helps get rid of those headaches too:-)

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  2. Doing something interesting and demanding is sometimes a cure for headaches. Ans so is strong coffee in my case !
    Your background is definitely more interesting with the evergreens in the background, even on a photo.
    I have to catch up on a lot of blog reading and commenting so I'd like to say how much I enjoyed watching your video. Because of the info in it, but also because I got to know you better. A bit like meeting someone in person. :o)

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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...