When in Bath, I viewed a wonderful Dürer exhibit at the Holburne Museum. Here are a few (of many) photos I took.
I had the rare opportunity to view the complete set of woodcuts known as The Great Passion.
Here a detail, this a woodcut with the detail of a wood engraving.
Each woodcut was filled with remarkable imagery.
I am back to engraving, not being satisfied with sections of my current wood engraving. I am working through what paper to print my edition on (making multiple paper orders) and figuring out how to print with makeready on my No. 1 Vandercook Proof press (the block is too big to use the Albion press). The engraving needs more work, as I found many sections “blah”, mostly areas of the pine needles.
Proof on right, and makeready on left, working on getting a better print of my Barometer Earthstar Mushroom wood engraving.
I refer to photos I took of the mushrooms taken the day before the year’s first significant snowfall, the mushrooms were quite decayed. I decided to illuminate the needles more.
I am not rubbing chalk powder into the lines that were blackened in the printing process, which can help one see how the final engraving looks. Having a recent printed proof nearby gives me enough information to work with.
To be continued . . .
I viewed a few marble drying racks during my recent travels in England, and decided to finally make some for my ArtStart studio.
Andy English in his studio in Ely, and a marble drying rack overhead holding some art.
First step making large holes using my small drill press.
With the final shape of the openings drawn with a pencil I used a jigsaw to “rough” out most of the wood.
Here is my laminate router and template setup that produces the finished 12 shapes cut out of each board.
Before the template is clamped on, the hole is aligned as well as the bottom.
After the routing, getting a smoother and consistent opening compared to only using a jigsaw.
A hobbyist wire bender mounted in a small vise was used to make the bent stainless steel rods that keep the marbles in place.
It took a while to get the bent rod shapes consistent. First step bending the two ends, second step the right angle bend.
Next up precise hole drilling for holding the bent rods & assembly of the 4 marble racks. (I used the routing template to mark the holes.)
The new marble racks in use, hanging just inked prints back to back I can now dry 96 prints (and not use up all my tabletop space.)
And finally editioning my wood engraving of a pine cone.
When I was in Oxford at the end of March, I spent the afternoon with Society of Wood Engravers (SWE) member extraordinaire Nigel Hamway. With him I had the wonderful opportunity to study some of Monica Poole’s engraved blocks, some familiar images and others that were new to me.
The block used to print the image on the cover of “Monica Poole Wood Engraver” printed by Graham Williams at The Florin Press.
Lovely shell imagery and skilled wood engraving. I was not familiar with this image, but did see it a few days later at the Western Art Print Room at the Ashmolean Museum.
Another gem, I love the boldness of the design.
I studied (and photographed) most of the blocks viewing them reflecting the light off of the sheen of the block’s surface. The image seen this way often looks like a negative.
A favorite, “Dry September”.
Wow!
What do you think this is an image of? Monica engraved the textures of rock, flint and bone.