I can’t believe it’s been nearly ten days since my last post. I didn’t think that my dog’s death would affect me so much – this just means that I cannot underestimate the bonds I share with my animal companions. Siwa was very special and will never be replaced.
However, I haven’t been entirely useless. I managed to make my first etching in close to ten years! It felt good to work with copper, and to finally run a plate through my printing press! This etching was done for a charity event for Locks of Love, the organization that collects hair to create wigs for disadvantaged children who have lost their hair for medical reasons. I am in the process of growing out my hair and am hoping that it will be long enough in a couple of months to donate the ten inches they require.
Below are the various states I needed to get the plate to a point that I was happy with. The final print was on Arches paper and approximately 8″ x 10″ with a plate size of 5″ x 3″. The print is an edition size of 16 and is a combination of hard and soft ground techniques. It was a lot of fun!
The first state was a simple hardground line drawing.
State 2 involved a softground texture with cheesecloth. Unfortunately my stop-out was a little thick and hard to control so some texture and open biting occurred on my hardground lines.
State 3 required burnishing away some of the unwanted lines and textures created by state 2, then re-etching the figure with another hardground bite. I also drew more lines for the heart/hair wings of the heart.
State 4 was more burnishing and more etching of lines that I wanted to stand out.
The final state... for now anyway... Not the best print since I sent that out for the charity/show. This print in particular was over-wiped. Oh well, I'm out of practice.
A fun & whimsical doodle:
Tree creature with owl.
These figure sketches were done the day after my dog passed away. I didn’t have much sleep but I knew I needed to draw so I got myself to my figure drawing class. These sketches showed my lack of concentration but hey, I think showing up to the class was half the battle!
Quick figure study - I was trying to focus on the hands. My concentration was off that night!
Anothe quick study ~30 minutes. Again, my lack of concentration felt obvious.
More quick, unfocused studies. But it's the effort that counts right?
