Woodbury Moonrise

March 17, 2006
No. 2 Litho Crayon on Paper
5.5"x6.75"

I had dinner at an old friend's house in Woodbury, VT last Friday night. He is housesitting for the winter at a beautiful old farmhouse. I had a chance to wander around the fields and look. About 8 pm or so I wandered out to see that the moon was up and the clouds were moving in very fast. I had less than a minute to sketch in the basics when a solid bank of clouds hid the moon from my sight.

Cold River, State III

March 18, 2006

Solarplate Etching

4"x5.75"

The last proof I pulled showed a fine horizontal line across the plate from the copier I used to make my transparency. You can just barely see it here but it is bad enough that I would not pull an edition off the plate. So I tried my own solution to the problem. Using a thinned down silicon I painted over the line before pulling this proof and it worked just a little. I have added a second coat of silicon and will probably apply at least 1-2 more coats before I pull another proof. The neat thing is that I set the silicon with a hair dryer and it smoothed the silicon almost perfectly to the plate so there was not a bump or ridge for the ink to leave a mark. With a little luck I will be able to remove the line altogether.

Imaginary Moonscape

March 18, 2006

Aluminum Monotype

7"x5"

It was nearing time to clean up the studio and end my class but I felt like pulling a quick plate. So I created this moonscape from my imagination in about five minutes. For something I just barely worked on it has some nice elements.

The large tree on the left is odd and I don't like the large cloud at all as it seems sketchy like it needed more work.

Bridge Ghost

March 18, 2006

Aluminum Monotype

7"x5"

I almost did not post the ghost of this plate but my students enjoyed seeing it and normally if I like a print I tend to work into it again. So it is good to keep a few of these as pure ghost prints. You never know as I may paint into this one as well.

Bridge in Plainfield

March 18, 2006

Aluminum Monotype

7"x5"

Saturday morning I taught the Intro to the Spa press in Barre, VT and made a couple of quick prints as examples for my students. I had a decent amount of time to work on this one and am pleased with the results. I have kept things loose while really using the original drawing to create something new instead of an exact copy. This one may be an excellent vehicle for adding watercolors!

Moon at Apogee

March 15, 2006

9"x6"

Copperplate Monotype

After making the copy of a Courbet painting I loosened up a bit and worked from one of my own drawings. The composition is simpler and my comfort with moving the ink around increased immensely. What makes this work better than my moonscapes from last month is that I have worked the dark masses just a little bit giving them life and a sense of space.

After Courbet

March 15, 2006

Copperplate Monotype

6"x9"

While reading Kenneth Clark's Landscape into Art I saw this old reproduction of a Courbet painting and was struck by how much it reminded me of my own work with recent monotypes. So I decided to make a copy as it has been a long time since I study a master's work.

Considering the difficulty I had working ink on a copperplate a couple of weeks ago it was a bold decision to start with the Courbet copy. In the end it was a great decision as I really worked with the large masses of black and was very thoughtful about how the ink moved on the copper.

Most importantly I had fun, made some changes and the image became my own.

Shadows and Fog

March 13, 2006

No. 2 Litho Crayon on Paper

7.5"x5.25"

In the high field, the full moon pierced through the fog and clouds.

Blessing my sight with a winter halo.

Illuminating the soon to be gone snow one last time.

Winter

February 3-4, 2006

N0. 2 Litho Crayon on Paper

5.5"x6.75"

Fast moving clouds and a cold wind drive me back into my car.

My view from the drivers seat is such that I can still see the stand of trees and the sweeping hill of white snow.

A stark contrast to the grey clouds and bright blue sky. The naked trees sway softly in the cold wind to the sound of my crayon on paper.