Off-Press/Print Restraint

Today I’m going to switch over to the legs of this first set of blocks. I have designed these without a crotch (risqué I hear you cry!), so that they can be used upside-down with a variety of tails and heads slotted into the gap.

I’ve based it on this image created last year, but I am interested in twisting it around, adding a variety of other heads and attachments…

I’m particularly taken with these two figures at the moment-

I think there is a fine line to be reached though, where the finished characters look in some way believable (as monsters/chimera) or at least feasible (as humans wearing costume and baskets- not defying gravity etc.).

Having worked with four other performers within the roles of the characters and costumes, I wonder if I should use their faces and figures?

Currently I have worked with my own body, and I wonder if that is more coherent as an exploration- whereby the artist becomes the monster, or the research can be read more psychologically about the myth of journeying to remote wild places…?

Mostly rubbings this time!

I’m never sure how to tackle human skin in wood relief… Either you carve it away clean so it is just outlines or colour, you block it in as shadows, or you texture it- mostly making it look like zebra flesh!

As the characters I am harking back to for these carvings are from the 16th century or earlier, and because the majority are actually from wood engravings not wood relief blocks I am left trying to replicate the delicate stripes of etched shadow, except a 1,000 times larger and in relief. So I tend to let the different tool shapes define the kind of line. Thus you have a large spoon shape that makes it look like fabric stretched at the seams, or fine triangular blades giving straight lines of textured tape. On the neck and bare hands for this piece I’m going to try keeping it mostly straight cuts and pretty rough, occasionally mimicking the fabrics, but hopefully so you can still tell which is which.

I’d appreciate any comments or input on these themes :-)