Rag & Bone
 
 
This woodblock was carved for a portfolio of political prints sponsored by the Baren Forum. Edward Gorey was an influence for the mouth of the cave - loosely interpreted. The entire print was inspired by Goya and his etching and aquatint, The Sleep of Reason. Chine colle was used for the flag in which Justice is wrapped. First, I traced the shape of her body and painted the stars and stripes on a master which was then scanned into Photoshop. There it was duplicated to fit as many as possible onto a letter size sheet of Japanese paper and printed with an inkjet printer. Then each flag was meticulously cut out (while watching TV). Just before the final black block was printed the flags were lightly spritzed with water on the wrong side, sprinkled with wheat paste and laid, glue side up, onto the block in the proper place. Then the print paper, with all the other colors printed, was laid face down on the block and pulled through the press. If you are very careful, a whole lot lucky, and a little patient, everything will come out where it belongs, in perfect registration. The digitizing of the flag worked well as long as the paper didn’t get too wet when spritzed, in which case the colors ran all over the place. When doing chine collé almost everyone has the experience of laying the collage paper down on the block wrong side up, in which case you will always get a lovely piece of rice paper glued to your block and a very blank spot in your print. It goes a great distance in helping you remember never to do that again! http://eeweems.com/goya/sleep_of_reason.html../../barebonesart/Techniques.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1
Monday, July 23, 2007
When Justice Sleeps the Monsters Roam