There's been some impatience among a few lurkers who want me to get on with the ducks, but a little more "faffing about" with the water still needed to happen. (Hi, John B.!)
After the previous step I rolled up the entire block with a transparent gray. (Step 7, not pictured.) I felt okay about how things were going until the next morning, when I decided that the blue printed in the diagonals was a little too bright.
Rats. Instead of moving ahead I was obliged to back up and hit some areas with an almost-white blue. Call it Step 7.5, I guess.
 |
| Linocut in Progress, Step 7.5 |
Once I felt the blue was sufficiently toned-down it was time for another transparent gray, rolled over the entire block. Again, you can't really tell what's happening here, other than a slight increase in overall contrast, but this pass picked out a few details and set things up for....
 |
| Step 8 |
The ducks! Finally. There are four mallards swimming towards us, three males and one female. The previous transparent ink layers have made the foreground bird a little too blue, and the female needs to have brown undertones, so I did some spot inking and masking of the "duck blobs":
 |
| Step 9 |
There are lots of little color bits to add to the birds now, and once that's done I think there will be one more color pass. With luck I'll get the whole thing finished this weekend, which means in the back of my head I should be thinking about the next piece. Right?
Out of the mist comes the Mallard Armada! ; ) Oh, I think your process on making a convincing water surface & movement is well worth delaying our duck debut. Thanks so much for letting us inside your head as you mull over your color strategy here. : )
ReplyDeleteThanks, Holly. There's one more dark to go in the water after the birds are done (I think), which will hopefully tie everything together. It's going to be pretty dramatic and almost abstract when it's finished, but that's what I found appealing. :-)
DeleteGosh, Sherrie, I may never attempt water again. You have made it so authentic. I might just have to have you come down and do a workshop for just me...Water, Water, Everywhere.
ReplyDeleteHeh. Just wait until you see "the startling conclusion." THEN decide if you really want my influence for water interpretation. ;-)
Deletelol love the comment above with "Mallard Armada"
ReplyDeleteits a very subtle colour change, but its working really well and the piece does have a lot of movement to it :)
Thanks, Jen! Yes, I like "Mallard Armada," in fact I'm thinking about "Handout Armada" as a title, since this particular flotilla thinks I've got snacks and they're determined to get to the shore as fast as possible without getting off their butts and flying. :-D
Deletedamn lazy birds :p
Delete:-) Slackers.
Delete