Digital study

A 1h 20min study done in photoshop over a 20 minutes charcoal drawing by Henry Yan, off of his book Henry Yan's figure drawing.

My light, thy shadow

1/10

Chiaroscuro woodcut on Imbuia. (reduction block)

10.6'' x 13.4'' (27 x 34 cm)

Printed on Japanese rice paper (10) and Rives Natural white paper (5)

A portrait of a very special person.

Process of # 8

These are some pictures of the process. There's a copy of the first color printed on paper, the matrix inked and ready for printing with the second color, the same matrix inked black for a comparative test with the xerox drawing and the cleaned matrix. Despite being it my first time with a colored woodcut, I didn't have much trouble with it. Making the register with a needle is much easier on a wood surface than on a lithographic stone. But I did notice the same problem I had with lithography, printing on highly absorbent cotton papers. They tend to inflate and thus ruin the registry. The japanese rice paper however kept the same size all through the process making it easier to match the colors correctly. The only frustration was finding the right color that I wanted for each one. It took a lot of time and I still just couldn't find the right hue for the yellow and the mid-tone. Mixing colors isn't easy.

Finished version to follow.

Woodcut # 8

For the last woodcut I decided to do something special, a technique I wanted to try since I saw it for the first time on an old engraver's book. It was a portrait by Albrecht Dürer using a technique called chiaroscuro, meaning something like light and shadow (aka reduction block print). The person I used for the portrait is also a very special person for me.

I did the study on photoshop, based of a photograph. I painted each color on a different layer, overlaying (not the layer effect) the darker colors above the lighter ones so that the silhouette would remain flawless. I then printed each color separately, black and white with a regular printer and used it as a base to carve by transfering the drawing to the wood with thinner (the solvent transfers the toner from the xerox to the surface you're transfering to). The separate colors shown up above are the ones made with photoshop. For this technique you have to print all copies of each respective color, as many as you want, at once before transfering the next layer of the drawing. You have to do this since you're using the same matrix for every color.

Butterfly whistle

P.A.

Woodcut on Ipê-tabaco.

12.6'' x 14.2'' (32 x 36 cm)

Printed on Japanese rice paper.

Woodcut # 7

Pen and ink study followed by the first test print. Finished version to follow.

To the opposite side

P.A.

Woodcut on Imbuia.

12.6''x 10.2'' (32 x 26 cm)

Printed on Japanese rice paper.

Credits to the model and protographer Mjranum.

Woodcut # 6

Pen and ink study. There are no test prints for this one as it was one of the last I started carving, towards the end of the semester, so I just had to go all the way. Also because I already had the whole idea on paper before I started carving and didn't want to lose the drawing on the wood by inking it before the carving was done. Finished version to follow.

I'm not satisfied with this one but it had to be finished to a certain point and printed. I might work on it again. Still untitled.

Woodcut on Ipê-tabaco.

13.4'' x 11.4'' (34 x 29 cm)

Printed on Japanese rice paper.

Credits to the model and protographer Mjranum.

Woodcut # 5

Pen and ink study followed by the first test print. "Finished" version to follow.

Darling, dawning

P.A.

Woodcut on Imbuia.

11'' x 13''. (28 x 33 cm)

Printed on Japanese rice paper.

Woodcut # 4

Pen and ink study followed by the first test print. Finished version to follow.

Urial

1/10

Woodcut on Ipê-tabaco.

11.4'' x 11.8'' (29 x 30 cm)

Printed on Japanese rice paper.

Woodcut # 3

Pen and ink drawing followed by the first test print. Finished version to follow.

Sand top

P.A. (Artist's print)

Woodcut on Ipê-tabaco (Zeyheria tuberculosa).

10.6'' x 13.8'' (27 x 35 cm).

Printed on Japanese rice paper.

Credits to the model and photographer Mjranum.

Woodcut # 2

This is the first pen and ink study, followed by 2 test prints after the cutting had started. Finished print to follow.

At last

Howdy there, folks. Long time no see, huh? Another semester has gone by (well more than a semester) and while I tried to upload most of my stuff on the portuguese version of the blog, I just didn't have the time to have this updated. No more of that now. Since it's been such a long time and I haven't had any visitors for quite a while I won't bother posting it exactly the same way as I did before. I'll ignore chronological orders and post the progress of each work individually from study to its finished state. Up until now I managed to finish my 8 woodcuts assignment (way past due) but I haven't had any time to organize the pictures which I'm going to post yet. I'll take them tomorrow with the right lighting and try to post them soon after. Toodles.

- The one up above is still unnamed, about 13" x 14", woodcut on imbuia (Ocotea Porosa), commonly known as Brazilian Walnut. Printed on Japanese rice paper.

Edit - Entitled now - Give me wings, so I can fly -