Sunday, April 13, 2014

Linocut in Progress: Finishing the eiders!

"Tandem" - reduction linocut - 8" x 10"
Shirtsleeves weather yesterday, rain and snow today... time to finish the eiders. There wasn't much left on the  lino block at this point, just the border and the wings, tail, and head of the male.


You'll see that there is a small portion of the female's body remaining. I did a little experiment with some extra dark in this area, and it was interesting, but the black was overbearing. I could have mixed a second, lighter color to print just in the female, but decided that some self restraint was in order. Have to draw the line somewhere.

While the eiders are drying I'm sorting and signing prints and organizing things for the trip to the framer tomorrow. And thinking about the demo I have scheduled at Abend Gallery in Denver next weekend.

And despite the fact that I am REALLY ready to move on to a new subject, I am drawing up one more seabird piece to use as my demo. Yesterday's sorting and prep work confirmed the niggling feeling that there just aren't enough birds in flight in this collection. I had hoped to create either puffin or guillemot flighted pieces, but all of my reference shots and sketches from my day on Eastern Egg Rock were of birds flying away from me. Compositions of bird butts can be amusing, but I just wasn't feeling it.

So a pair of terns it will be. Simple... maybe six color passes. No time for more than that! (Well, actually not even time for that many... but I'm going to do it anyway. ;-)

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful piece Sherri. I love the colors and the fact that the birds are breaking out beyond the "frame".

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  2. Lovely print Sherrie. Hope the exhibition goes well and you sell the lot.

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  3. Thanks, Melody and Stuart. This is one of those pieces that I would really like to try again on a bigger scale. Wouldn't eiders be cool HUGE? They're so graphic...

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  4. looks lovely :) and good luck with the terns

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  5. Again, Sherrie, a gorgeous print. You can really see these birds flying in this work. I take it you are in Maine?

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  6. Hi Pagosa! Welcome...
    Nope, I'm actually in Colorado... but the exhibition for which I am preparing is in Maine. Show opens June 1, but all the work has to be there in a couple of weeks. Yikes!

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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...