1000 Woodcuts

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Conversation With a Canyon I is done!

The Inky Stuff

Finished print I on the two-part series of canyons. Now that I'm "in" the canyon, I have to carve my way out. Here are all the printing photos of Lure Me In

Decided on the color scheme
now the real stuff, all Daniel Smith (RIP)
oil based inks

First proofs
the stripes are done a la poupee
another way of saying applied free-hand
with a tiny roller

The block inked and assembled,
ready to print

There we go, about 55 or so
paper is Rives BFK tan

Key block with all
the definition

Overprinted the key block
in umber-purple-red-more-umber

Final prints, "Lure Me In"

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1000woodcuts Website: https://1000woodcuts.com
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Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Conversation With a Canyon, Lure Me In

Oh those canyons

They let you in
One of my first homage to canyons
this one in the Valley of Fire

Hiking alone sometimes results in some strange and wonderful events; as the feet trudge through rocky washes and rugged trails, the mind goes off on a fantastic journey of its own. Around these parts, there are a myriad of slot canyons, many well off the beaten path. I like to find them and then...

What are you looking at?

I'm trying to see how deep you go

Oh, I'm deep alright, why not come in and find out

(silence)

It's really cool in here and the breeze is fresh and smells like wet sandstone

Are you trying to lure me in?

Why not, what are you afraid of?

Not much out here...your eyes are staring at me, is there a way out?

The water carved me and my eyes, the wind rounded me smooth, both of them found a way in and they found a way out

just follow the water

follow the wind

then follow the light

Lure Me In

The first in the series (of two, not so ambitious!) is now carved and ready to print. Following the "color field" challenge, I decided to carve a key block first, then divide my color block into the fields of color. Not a new method with me and it was much fun to revisit my old puzzle color woodcuts.

The key block gets transferred to a single color block and that poor thing gets chopped into as many colors as I want to have in my canyon. Scroll saw in hand and a few hours and presto! I mixed inks yesterday according to my sketches more or less. Ready to print.

Key block all carved up

Color map top left, and some notes on newsprint
bottom right

Inks mixed, tested on the tan paper
and into the color coded tubes

That's part of my brain spilled all over
that piece of paper, makes sense
to me!

Tentatively, first pieces get cut

Three hours and six scroll saw blades later...

The scroll blade kerf is so thin
you can't hardly see the divisions.
Once inked, the lines between color
fields disappear under the key block

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Sunday, May 31, 2020

Collections

Working in a series

Most of my woodcuts aren't born alone. Usually when my brain is storming with ideas I think of waaaay too many to actually create, I need another Maria to keep up with myself.

Many artists work in a series, it's a way to explore an idea or concept fully, to get all the angles, create all the derivatives until the creative bug is exhausted.

I tend to begin with what I call "sketches" although I don't sketch on paper, I go right to the blocks! When developing ideas, I grab smaller blocks and begin with a pencil, usually working from memory but relying on model books (for figures) and maybe photos (for landscapes). Once the pencil roughs things out, I commit and use a permanent marker to settle the drawing. From there, it's just another little woodcut.

Here's a studio tip: I often print them together and then trim the paper after the ink dries. Saves time and makes the series of prints more cohesive to have them on the same type of paper and ink.

Figures and landscapes

Here are two such series from my website

Stay in touch!

Website: https://1000woodcuts.com

1000woodcuts Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/1000woodcuts
Maria's Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/maria.arango.diener
Maria's Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/1000woodcuts
1000woodcuts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts/videos