So I'm still very much in the depths of slogging it out on this new big block-the central panel from "Electric Baloneyland". Im working on areas in the mid to lower sections of the image. These areas are absolutely filled to the brim with medium grey values, which amounts to millions of little diamond shaped cross hatchings. Cross hatching in woodcuts can be extremely difficult. Thank god i have benchmarks in this regard. Of course Albrecht Durer is the main inspiration for me. However artists such as Hendrick Goltzius, Altdorfer, and of course Hans Burgkmair all were excellent at carving the cross hatching technique.
TEXTURE
In my images i use texture to create value. This is an especially important approach when working in a large format. The reason for using texture to create value on a large scale is optimal for reasons of read-ability on the part of the audience. By its nature a woodblock print's lines are rough, and the accumulation of single hatch and limited directional line can tend to create an overall effect of busy-ness and chaos, resulting in a slightly hard to read image. This is especially true when working on a large scale. When i first started doing block prints back in 1995, my images were drawn and carved using a simple system of single hatched lines. These prints were around 2 feet by three feet. Not exactly small, but nowhere near the scale i work on today. It occurred to me that if i were to work bigger and just use simple directional line, things in the image might look really flat and not at all volumetric. This effect would also look too busy in terms of marks. So, I sought to use cross hatching, stippling, contour and cross contour lines to create texture which results in reading as gray scale shading. As I noted earlier, woodcut lines are rough. The accumulation of all those rough lines, when carved accurately, can have a uniquely fluid effect. By its nature, the woodcut is an expressive medium. The wood fights you. God did not make trees for me to carve out hillbillies having sex in out houses with dogs and pirates. The fact that the wood resists the carving is the fundamental reason why the German Expressionists favored woodcuts as a tool for their expression. Woodcuts are an inherently expressive medium and for artists like Kollowitz and Kirchner it was a perfect fit for their emotionally charged imagery. Basically, no matter how much of a vituoso the cutter of the block may be, the difficulty of carving always enhances the graphic emotion of the resulting image. Just look at Durer's Apocalypse series, carved by HIM when he was in bios mid to late 20's. (Yes, he carved those blocks kids, no matter what cracker jack art historians may try to tell you- and I have it on good authority!) The Apocalypse series is just as expressive as anything in German Expressionist woodcuts. There both two entirely different approaches to image making but the common factor is that they are woodcuts, hence the heightened expressiveness in both.
DRAWING
I draw and carve my blocks upright. Its a great way to see the image as a whole and you are able to step back and assess the image compostionally as a whole. I use Japanese wood gouges, working mostly in a "black-line" approach. (carving out the black lines). I basically use the same approach to carving as my heroes, Durer and Hans Baldung. The tools are different......but the effects are the same. Tools for block carving back in the days of Durer were larger and more was done with a knife. Woodcut artists of the middle ages prefered the fruit hardwoods for drawing, carving and printing. The harder the wood, the more detail you can get. Larger numbers of prints can be printed from a fruit hardwood block, because it wears down much slower. An artist can carve across the grain on hard woods with minimal splintering. Durer prefered cherry, apple or pear wood. I use finish grade Birch plywood, 3/4 inch thick. It's hard enough and tigh grained enough to hold detail with minimal splintering, but wont wreck your hands carving it. If Durer would have had plywood......who knows what the hell we'd be talking about! Durer carved from planks of wood, with the grain running long wise.
OVERALL EFFECT
The tonal effects that I achieve are a combination of drawing and carving techniques. When these carved lines are printed, the ink and pressure combined with the dampness of the paper creates a rough, fat, yet fluid line effect. Overall, it is this part of the process that makes a woodcut a woodcut. I like my images to be a little heavy on the black in terms of inking. I use VERY STIFF INK. Yes, that was a commercial, kiddies. The right combination of pressure and ink along with the depth of my carving in the wood makes the tonal value from the cross hatching texture in my drawing possible.
CARVING TOOLS
I Use a combination of Japanese wood gouges i bought from McClains in Seattle. They are some form of what i believe are called Hanga To. In my set there is the standard V-Gouge, U-Gouge, a knife and a chisel. I use a medium sized V gouge for almost all of my carving. I strop the V gouge every day before i carve, on an old leather belt. Also, i use hockey tape for a better grip on my tools. Check out McClains website here.
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| Detail of "Bait", woodcut 2013 |
CARVING TOOLS
I Use a combination of Japanese wood gouges i bought from McClains in Seattle. They are some form of what i believe are called Hanga To. In my set there is the standard V-Gouge, U-Gouge, a knife and a chisel. I use a medium sized V gouge for almost all of my carving. I strop the V gouge every day before i carve, on an old leather belt. Also, i use hockey tape for a better grip on my tools. Check out McClains website here.
Ok, i feel that is enough print geek-ery for now. Look for more on this blog real soon. Ill be better about posting ALL THINGS EVIL PRINTS and the "ELECTRIC BALONEYLAND" project in the future.
WWW.EVILPRINTS.COM
