In the Water, Toward the Woods, Woodcut

This is a two color woodblock print made with oil based inks. Woodblock prints are "relief prints," in that the nonprintable areas are carved away, leaving a low relief of the image left level with the original uncarved surface.

The inspiration for this image is Ichijo Narumi's postcard print designed in 1906. Narumi's print is a lithograph, not a woodcut. But the simplicity of the design and imaginative use of the limited palette is a model for any printmaker doing their first two color print.

Two color prints are made using two printing plates. I carved both into one block of pine, each registered at the top and right sides so that I could simply slip the paper into the pre-carved grooves and know that the second printing would line up with the first. The green block is printed first, the brown second. Because the brown ink is transparent, where it overlaps the green ink, it produces the darker color of the forest and signature, making this technically a 3 color print.

I proofed the the block in different forms to gauge its appearance, leaving me with distinct "Artist Proofs." These allow the printer to see what work is left to be done. In this case I still needed to carve lines into the hair.

I produced 9 roughly identical prints using these colors. Future editions will use alternate colors. These first 9 are $29.50 a piece. Please message me to purchase. Or consider becoming a "Print Subscriber" through my Patreon page and receive a new print every month sent to your door. Patreon Page

Comments

Giuseppe Arcimboldo and the Double Image

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526 – 1593) was an Italian Renaissance painter famous for his imaginative and unconventional portraits. Born in Milan, he served as a court painter for the Habsburg emperors in Vienna and Prague. Arcimboldo's unique style is characterized by his "composite portraits" which used a combination of objects, fruits, vegetables, and other elements, arranged to portray a human face. These whimsical and highly detailed works are often interpreted as allegorical representations of the seasons, elements, or human attributes. The Four Seasons 1563-73 Arcimboldo's most famous series of paintings is "The Four Seasons" where he cleverly arranged items like flowers, fruits and branches to capture his enigmatic visages. Today, Arcimboldo is popularly known primarily for his influence on the surrealists. But Arcimboldo's influences is more far-reaching than that. From the chalk cliffs of Germany to the American Southwest, Arcimboldo has helped sha...

How to Paint a Landscape in Oil

This is a landscape painted with oil on paper. It was painted from a photograph and the subject is a pond in Central Park. The visual theme is "distance" and all of my choices were made in order to communicate and stress the illusion of space. The painting was made in four layers, with a few days between each one to allow the paint to dry. I am going to describe the process of each layer. STEP 1 The first step is to block in the large shapes. This is a means of mapping out the composition, choosing which objects will be included and which omitted. The exact tones used at this stage are not absolutely critical but are an approximation of the target colors. Since they will serve as a substrate for subsequent layers, I mixed them lighter and duller than my target colors. That way they won't dominate subsequent layers by showing through and altering the color of those layers—at least no more than I want them to. STEP 2 The next layer of paint is ...

Painting a Landscape in Acrylic (Outdoor Mural)

On Day 1, I worked in black and white, covering the garage in white gesso and sketching in my design with black paint. I started with a rough sketch and then refined it over the course of the day. I constantly walked up and down the driveway so that I could see the whole composition. This is the original concept for the design which I made in watercolor on paper. Here it is photoshopped onto the garage door and extended into the distance with atmospheric perspective. On Day 2, I painted these distant trees, defining their structure by painting in hollows using titanium white. I also refined the overall composition of the trees and their branches. Part of this refinement is erasing areas that I don't want, which I did by overpainting with white gesso. My goal for this day was to have a grayscale rendering of the entire composition so that tomorrow I could begin with color. Honestly, I would have been satisfied to leave it like this. I think it looks awesome in black and...

Andrew Sandberg's Fine Art

Search This Blog