Thursday, January 31, 2013

Woodcuts

 I've had this print on my desk since last summer. My daughter brought it to me from a small print shop in Shanghai, where she was visiting. The image size is only about 5 inches square. I'm very inspired by the small, detailed cuts and the tones and textures that are achieved with only black and white.

I've started a woodcut of my own; I sketched a scene from my backyard directly with a Sharpie on a wood board and have started cutting all the "whites" away. I haven't done this for a while so  I have to get the feel of it again. The image will be a mirror of what is actually in my yard but I just wanted to get started.

I have a lot of boards to do woodcuts on, since my son breaks so many doing Tae Kwon Do and I get the pieces. They are pine, not as soft as Japanese pine boards, but they will do for now. As I've said before, I don't like supplies to go to waste.