Brian Mercer of Brouwerij West did a nice post on the crowns I designed for them. Brian was a pleasure to work with. He even sent me some beer. You can see his post here, and below are a few more pictures of the process. We ended up with black and white but in the trial process I used four different registered blocks to achieve various color arrangements.
Colored proof of the Job lino-cut, using water based inks.
2012, Drypoint of Moses in the Rock, 4 1/2″ x 6″. Unlike an engraving which captures the ink in incised lines, the drypoint image is made by scratching the copper with a stylus, which raises a bur, trapping the ink on the surface of the plate. This produces a “softer” or “fuzzier” line than the crisp and precise engraved line. This also makes deeper tones possible, which I wanted for this image. I am not sure that I have not failed in my attempt. Yet I am not disappointed. Failure is the plough.
Fire and Gravel. 2012, Engraving of Waking Man drawing a comet, 3″ x 4 1/2″. The difference in line quality is readily observed in this engraved image.
A slightly earlier state of the Moses drypoint.
Slideshow of images from the printing process.
Two images within the process of a drypoint of Moses in the rock. The voices of steel and copper.
Below are some views of the walnut long-table as well as a colored print of “Go On, Job, Bread and Water” framed in walnut for my friend.
This is the first proof of the linoleum block of Job.
It takes a while to get used to the new reversed image. Here is the block itself inked up.
On the press…
Midway through cutting the linoleum.
Here is the early progress on a new linoleum cut of Job in a the cave of the Erth.
Here are some more pictures of the engraving process, and the second proof as work continues on a small copper plate of Walking Man observing and drawing a comet.
Engraving lines in the copper using a burin.
Detail of a small curl of copper being plowed up by the burin.
The plate after being inked and rubbed for printing.
The printed proof of the plate- revealing the progress thus far.
This is the first proof of a new copper engraving, fairly early in the process, printed to give an idea of how the values are shaping up. Obviously, certain areas such as the pants and vest of the figure are more developed than the head, which consists mostly of reference lines. The plate/image size is 3″x4 3/8″.
Here is the plate with the two proofs.
And a detail of the plate
The School of the Transfer of Energy 