Psalm 15

It all started with a picture.  

I drive by this church a lot and have always loved the architecture, sculptures and stained glass windows.  I even went there on a school trip with my daughter many, many years ago.

Then I came to Psalm 15.

"LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? 

       Who may live on your holy hill?"

and I thought of this image.  Then came the next question: how to best represent the idea in my head.  I wanted something ethereal, other worldly, there but not there...

Here is the final printed image.  I found a few nicks that need repaired, but that can wait until editioning starts.  I used cherry wood, but to my horror, the wood was cut cross grain, with no room to turn the image.  So, i tried a new trick.

I carve the major areas out normally, using a small v tool and a large U gouge.

Then I took a fine point etching tool (we called them pig stickers in college) and carefully scratched out the wood to create the secondary lines.

I think it came out cool looking.  The scratch marks allowed me to show or add an additional level to the image that I could not carve.

I really like how the decorative initial came out, 

not pleased at all with the scan though.  

The color is all messed up.  The purple is a very deep, 

rich color of purple and the burgundy is also much richer, but 

once again I think the scanner 

got confused with the gold leaf and 

picked it's own color.  

One of these days I will figure out Photoshop better and 

I will be able to fix these mistakes, but for now, 

you get the idea at least.

I carried the vine theme on down the page and picked it up 

again for the illumination along the bottom, as seen below.

Here is the final image.  Comments are welcome and appreciated, contacts with publishers or buyers even more welcome.  If you would like to purchase one of these for your very own, let me know.  Prices start at $495.00 each, but I will give a 10% discount to anyone that mentions the blog.

Psalm 14: A Homage to Durer

Where do I begin.
This was definitely the hardest, most difficult image I have ever attempted. After seeing a traveling show of Durer's prints, I was inspired to take my imagery one step further, difficulty wise.

For giggles, here is my first attempt
at the final image:
I knew I needed to add the hands, but something
just wasn't right, but I couldn't see it.
Then I showed my 20 year old daughter. She said
she really liked it, but something was wrong.
Well, she told my wife, who came to take a look also.
She laughed and said Meagan was right, it did look
like a _____.

So, I asked my pastor, he said it looked like ____
before I even told him what my wife and daughter said!
Here is final image, printed and all:

I decided to keep the hands white, not truly sure
why, but it just "looked" right to me.

The medium was lino block mounted on MDF
board. I tried to follow the origianl Durer image as faithfully
as possible, but eventually determined it was impossible
with the adjustments I made to compensate for the folds
and everything. It was still hard and took me weeks to
carve and complete. Here are some close-ups:

Most of the carving
was done using an Xacto knife.

I had to take my glasses off and
use a magnifying glass at times.

Some of the lines are so thin,
they can't even be seen on the
block with the naked eye.

I used Graphic Chemical black
water based ink, the best I have found so far.




This is a horrible scan of the decorative initial, but it
will have to do. For some reason, even the best scanners
can not seem to correctly scan the gold leaf. So, instead
it messes with all the other colors in an attempt to correct
for the glare. But it gives you an idea of the image.





I never know what to share in these posts, do I highlight the artwork or do I delve into the meaning and message behind the images? In the past, I have tried to do a little of both. I probably offend some, enlighten others. Comments are welcome, so please share your thoughts.

This Psalm spoke to me about God seeing the works of man on earth, even though some do not acknowledge God, he still sees. He knows.

Here is the final image:Your comments are appreciated and encouraged!

Psalm 13

Moving along.

This is one of my favorites so far, although I did the carve the print on white oak. Never again, never again. My wrist hurt for two weeks after carving this beast. But I love the way the grain worked with the print, helping to give the impression of actual wood.

This was a very personal image for me, I internally felt it, if you get my drift. I wanted that impression of crying out to the Lord, but from strength, not weakness. That's why I used the image of the tree, strength and fortitude, but out of that still able to cry out in agony to the Lord. Oh yeah, my model was Preston again, and old friend of mine.

Here's the image:



The decorative initial and text were fun.
I think I am finally starting to get the hang of this!
I think that someday I will start to paint these images, with a
brush and tempra paints, but for now just using markers.

I am also beginning to think of the possibility of using
real gold leaf for the illuminations. Right now, I can't afford
it and I also don't know how, but the not knowing how has
never held me back before and it probably won't this time
either.

I am also considering using a "real" calligraphy nib and
black india ink for the text. Psalm 18 is the next Psalm that
has a lot of text, so probably will try on that one, where the letters need to be very small to fit the paper size.

Here is the border:And finally, the complete image: