I’ve been working the last month on linocut and woodcut prints. A Valencia College curator wants ten prints by March 1. She’ll make a selection for a group printmaking show in June.
“Harpy’s Pets” is a three-color reduction print. Reductions involve printing white and the lightest color first, cutting out block so that areas designated for a second and third color remain, then removing everything but raised sections for the final color. “Harpy” started with white and yellow, followed by red, followed by black.
I had problems getting a clean, properly aligned print: sometimes I rolled the ink too thickly and filled in shallow, narrow cuts; sometimes odd protuberances unintentionally printed in areas intended to be bare; sometimes I failed to line up ragged edges of rice paper properly with registration marks on my printing guide.
I grumped as I studied the flaws in “Harpy’s Pets”. But frustration led to a desire to do better. So, I started a new print. Took a stick of charcoal, made random marks on a wooden board and waited for images to emerge. The horned ogre arrived first followed by the dragon, followed by the foot (upper left), followed eventually by the flying elephant (upper right). I fixed the charcoal to the board with hairspray, began to cut.
The light areas have already been cut. I’ll gouge away the tan areas leaving raised black lines and dark patches. There’ll be nothing but black and white tones in this print. Keep it simple, stupid.
My older prints centered around domestic dramas and human conflicts. Now I’m starting to notice a fairy tale, mythological trend in latest images. Animals, monsters, human/animal hybrids keep emerging out of clouds and tangles of marks. Perhaps my unconscious mind is drifting toward magical thinking.
dennisnarratives 