A Psalm Quest

Psalm 23

2011-05-20T14:59:00.037-04:00

I took a very long time on this Psalm, for many reasons. I figured this would be the one most people

look for first (Google), the most recognizable, the most "universal", the most comforting, the most everything that everyone loves about the Psalms.

I spent a very long time in contemplation also, which verse or verses to illustrate? I had many ideas, many images (someday I may come back to this Psalm again and illustrate those many different versions). But for now, I like the resulting image I have done.

" He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters."

I also went ahead and tried a technique I had not used before, more of a stippling or pecking motion with the carving tool. The image is 6.25" x 8", carved on standard lino block.

I used as my model a young man I know and positioned him at the angle that my minds eye "saw". Can't say exactly why, It just "worked".

The most difficult task in the image was the mental gymnastics, for me at least, of working from a dark to light rather than the other way around. Those of you who are printmakers will understand, those of you who are not, well, here goes: in relief printing, everything is reversed. When carving a line or circle, it is usually easy. When carving out of a field of black already, it gets a little trickier. At least for me it was!

Then of course the next "problem" became: what in the world am I going to use for the decorative initial and illumination? If this is the print they have been waiting for (I know, a little pompous, but hey), then I need to make the illumination just as good, maybe even better.

So, I decided to design something classical and classy, but still had a little flair to it.

Funny thing is, the more I try and make these designs interesting and full of "flair", the harder and harder they get to draw and paint!

Somehow they look much easier when I design them at 500% of the finished size, totally forgetting

that I now need to reduce them down to be decoration and not the artwork itself.

But try painting some of these things! I am down to a brush with like one hair in it!

So, after much complaining and whining, here is the illumination:

Now you are only seeing it at this size, you should see this baby in real life. It is small and intricate, but God helped me to make it nice for His glory.

Here is the final image, but first, I also had to cut a new chop mark because my old one was looking so crummy!

So, there it is. Love it or hate it, that is up to you. But please, if you like, leave a comment. It does my ego good to see people post on here. Also, I have decided to make these for sale.

$75.00 for the printed image only

$100.00 for a framed one of the image only.

$499.00 for a "full" illuminated and calligraphic image, unframed

Let me know!

Psalm 22

2011-03-04T14:02:00.024-05:00

Seems like it has been forever. But the day is finally here. A new post!

Here is the latest in the series, possibly one of my most passionate and powerful.

You be the judge:

When I started think of the image to use for this Psalm, I was tossed: to do an image of Christ or an image of a mystery man? Or both?

So, I settled on a self-portrait of myself. I also changed up my style a little, looking to portray a more emotional image than a pictorial image.

I cannot tell you the amount of times or times I have

felt this way, I do not have enough fingers or toes to count. Too many nights have been spent anguishing over Hannah, the economy, my life and so many other issues.

I used pine wood for the block. Just the plain old cheap stuff from my neighborhood Home Depot.

Paper is the same Zerkal and ink my faithful Graphic Chemical WS Black, which is no longer available and I am out of!

Oh well.

Nothing too special about the decorative initial or illumination, other than trying to make them fit together with this extra long Psalm.

For those who like whimsy and those who pay close attention to detail, here is a correction buried in the calligraphy:

And finally, here is the completed piece:

By the way, I decided to also start using smaller decorative caps when separating verses, which can be seen on the enlargement.

Hope you enjoy, leave a comment or two!

Psalm 21: Failure and Success

2010-09-10T19:25:00.017-04:00

As I sat in the back of the chapel, prior to our Christmas Eve service, I had the pleasure to listen to the beautiful vocalist that would sing that night (Abby Crane, she is awesome!). She was practicing and warming up her vocal chords with, uh, unusual sounds that singers make before singing. And I thought of Psalm 21:

"The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!"

Which of course led me to start sketching out my idea for the image to use. After a few trials and errors, this is the final image:

Now I was off to the races! Next was to use the really cool graphics I had designed for the decorative initial and illumination. But I just wasn't "feeling" it. You can be the judge this time! I am posting my FAIL, and then what I consider, my SUCCESS (well God's actually, it is all His). Here is the first attempt at the decorative initial:

and the first illumination attempt:

And of course, the complete image:

But, as I said, I just wasn't feeling it, something was not right. Or better yet, I didn't like it. I did not feel like it was up to the standards I had set prior to starting this project. I did not want to create anything I was not proud of and was to the full extent of what I could do. And I knew I could do better.

So, following is round 2, starting off with the revised decorative initial:

And the illumination:

And of course the final image:

Feel free to leave your comments!

Now I need to get back to printing and illuminating, Psalm 22 and Psalm 23 are waiting to be printed and Psalm 24 needs to be carved yet.

Psalm 20

2010-07-15T18:31:00.021-04:00

This was one of those Psalms that I could not wait to get to!

Since I have read the Psalms many times, I knew what I thought I wanted to do with this piece for a long time.
I focused in on verse 7:
"Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God."
Actually laying it out and designing it though was another matter!
Who would or could have imagined that drawing a tire with a flat would be so hard?

Because I wanted the viewer to see it from a specific angle, I must have drawn and re-drawn that tire a million times. Still it didn't look the way I wanted it to

Then I had an idea (I know, a rarity for me).
I asked a friend of mine who's daughter had a Mercedes if he could help me out. Luckily he was into the idea.
So, without his daughter knowing about it, we snatched her car in the early morning light!
Drove it up to a nearby gas station, and let all the air out of the tire onto a small Styrofoam ring I had purchased.
Took a bunch of pictures from a bunch of angles, re-inflated the tire and snuck the car back home.
She never knew!

Then of course when the print was done I showed it to her. "I have a car just like that!".
I know. Hahahahaha.
So, here is the print (and yes, I noticed that boo boo in the spoke, it is now fixed for any future prints):

One of the things you may not notice right off the bat is that I got just a little crazy with the cross-hatching. I wanted to see how small and intricate I could get, kinda like a personal challenge. Here are some close ups of the final printed image:

Here is the decorative capital:
And the Illumination:

I felt like I needed to have this design encompass more than just the bottom, it was so strong of an image.
And the final print!

The Saga of Psalm 19

2010-07-10T09:25:00.020-04:00

Where do I start?
Probably one of the most difficult Psalms for me to illustrate, it literally took me weeks to conceive, create, recreate, revise, redraw, and finally get happy. Then I made the mistake of asking others what they thought of the design! So, more drawing, designing, etc.....

This was the final design below I decided to go with,but as you can see, many areas were totally undecided.

Then came the decision, how do I carve this dreamscape?

I think I wound up redrawing the lines about5 times before I even came close to figuring out
how I wanted to carve.(I always attempt to draw my images in pen as I
plan carve them in wood).

Here is the idea and final image side by side:

On to the illumination!

I really had fun with the designing of this motif! I will just go ahead and show you the designs of the decorative initial and illumination and let you decide if it works:

And here is the final image:As always, comments are appreciated and they let me know someone is actually looking at this stuff.

A Review So Far

2010-06-20T12:51:00.013-04:00

I realized recently that some of the nice people I meet and send here either don't know or realize that my prints are organized by dates. So, I thought it would be nice and the right time to do a review.

So, here they are so far, Psalm 1 through Psalm 18.
Click on any image and it will take you to the full post for details and the full Illuminated Psalm.

So this is it so far..............

Please leave your comments!

Stay tuned, updates coming soon.

Psalm 18

2010-03-11T22:15:00.014-05:00

By far, one of the easiest images to create and one of the hardest to illuminate!

This is also one of my favorite images I have created. The verses virtually sang to me the imagery. I wanted to depict God saving me from the "pit" and the "cords" that attempt to hold me down.

I am not totally satisfied with the cross-hatching, maybe at some later date I will go back and thin out more lines to help with the shading, or maybe I will leave it be, because the arm is being rescued from below where it is not all smooth and nice.

Again, printed with Graphic Chemical black on Zerkal book vellum
(which I found out is hand made in Germany). Carved in lino, mainly with an exacto knife (although my U gauge and V gauge are getting lonely.

The decorative initial was easy enough:

Once again going retro, I decided to do everything
in India ink and brown ink. I didn't add any other
colors because I was very satisfied with the way
the image looked as is.

Also, I had in the back of mind what the final
product would look like once the illumination
was completed. The main problem was yet to
come; how was I going to fit all the text
on one piece of paper?

After much consideration, and 5 trial runs of writing the Psalm out, in calligraphy form, I decided that unless people were going to look at this with a magnifying glass, it would never all fit on one piece of paper.

Rather than prattle on, here are the final illuminations:

Page 1

Page 2

And the final images:
Hope you enjoyed!

Psalm 17

2010-02-28T18:37:00.009-05:00

Well, what would you recommend?

Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings

from the wicked who assail me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.

My pastor Eric offered to model for one of my Psalms illustrations/woodblocks, so I took him up on the offer. Just didn't tell him which one he would be modeling for, or my idea.

I was trying for the impression of him being assailed by the "enemies" of life, but being protected by God and being able to "rest" in that protection.

Like my last Psalm, I have decided to keep using paint for the illumination and actual ink for the lettering.

Oh yeah, for my printmaking buds, image was carved in lino and printed on 135lb Zerkal Book weight white paper with Graphic Chemical water based black ink.

Here is the decorative initial:

I really wish I could get the colors right on
these scans and have the gold leaf show up correctly.

The colors are right and the intensity is fine,
but it makes the gold look horrible. Oh well.

I like this color combination. It took me some time, and some experimenting, but eventually decided that it worked. Especially when you see below how the illumination turned out (once again, got the idea at church).

Looks kinda small here, but when you see the final image, it will make sense. It was a longish Psalm, so I had to shorten the image down from my original idea, but I still think it came out O.K.

Let me know what you think. Or if you want to purchase any of these, either just a print or the whole thing, let me know.

Psalm 16

2010-02-20T12:22:00.012-05:00

The journey continues......

I am still designing, carving, printing and illuminating the series, just slow in updating! I have carved up to Psalm 20, printed and illuminated up to Psalm 18 and Psalm 21 is all designed and ready for the block.

"Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge". Psalm 16:1

Well, here is the printed image for Psalm 16.

The model is my lovely daughter Meagan.

I was trying to capture an image of fear, loneliness, confusion and overall angst. David supposedly wrote this Psalm while hiding in a cave from Saul. A modern interpretation would have someone hiding in a room. In the corner. In the darkness.

Image was carved on a wood block (maple). Had fun with the background, which was created with different grits of sandpaper, a roller, a hammer and a pig sticker.

I didn't want to shade or shadow Meagan, I liked the look that just over-exposing the image created, it added to the "feeling" I was shooting for.

Used Graphic Chemical water based black ink, printed on the Zerkal I have been using for all the images. I keep telling myself to stop designing with soooo much black space areas (they are very hard to print correctly and very tiring). But I digress.

Now for some new fun! I decided to change from markers for the calligraphy and illumination and go a little more analog. Here is the decorative initial:

By the way, big props for my local Kinko's, who helped me with the scanning. They are so good and very nice.

I designed the decorative letter myself, as I have done for almost all of these Psalms. Don't tell my pastor, but I designed this one Sunday morning during church. I get some of my best ideas in church.

I used tempra paint and watercolors for the initial, and a very, very small brush, as well as black ink from the bottle for the outlines. I also switched from a marker for the calligraphy to a metal tipped calligraphy pen, which I really like. You can see below how much more crisp and precise the lettering looks and it also allows me to be a bit more flourishing.

Here is the illumination:

It stretches across the whole page, encompassing both the print and the text. Hand painted as well.

And here is the final image:

Comments are always welcome and appreciated. Sales too.

Psalm 15

2009-08-13T12:02:00.017-04:00

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

2009-07-12T21:13:00.017-04:00

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

2009-06-28T13:23:00.010-04:00

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:

Psalm 12

2009-06-22T21:26:00.010-04:00

O.K., no excuses this time. Other than this; I AM NOT A MACHINE!
It takes time to imagine, design, draw, transfer, draw again, carve, print, calligraphy and illuminate these things. All in my spare time. At lunch, traffic lights that are too long, babysitting my daughter, late into the wee hours, etc.
So, here is Psalm 12.
For my printing friends, this was done on linoleum and mounted on a 12" x 12" piece of MDF board. Almost the entire image was carved with an Xacto knife, just the waste was carved away with a small "U" shaped tool.

The image was printed using Graphic Chemical water based black ink (big props to Graphic Chemical, this is my all time favorite ink ever). Funny, I always use the same cheap 7" Speedball roller. I have more expensive rollers, but I always seem to come back to my handy dandy Speedball brayer.
Oh well, go figure. I suppose the old saying of "Go with what works" is true.

Interesting note, I realized I was going to run out of paper soon, so I thought, I had better re-order before I go broke or lose my day job. Well, after shipping back two orders, I finally figured out that the paper I have been using is Zerkal Book White Vellum 145 gm. I ordered 25 more sheets, should last me for at least a year, I hope.

Now for my other friends, I was really intrigued by the concept of lies and lying and how they effect all areas of our lives. Somehow, I got the impression of a winding snake, weaving in and out of my life and the lives of others. Lies are like that, one person lies about something, who tells another the same lie with a twist, who passes it on to another with their twist, and so on, and so on. Even without additional twisting, lies are insidious and permeating. My original idea included a tongue getting chopped off with some blade or axe, but I am glad I got this idea instead (so is my wife and daughter, they didn't like the tongue idea either). The lie is the winding thingy, weaving in and out of ordered lives, but.... whenever it comes close to the cross, the lie is cut off. Likewise, a day will come when all lying lips will be silenced and the truth will stand alone.

Here is the text and decorative letter:

I had decided that I wanted to start tying things closer together, decorative initial, text and illumination, so I am showing the decorative initial with the text this time
because I wanted to run a line from the dec. initial down to the border and so on.

Scroll on down for the final image in its entirety.

Thanks for your comments and patience. It helps to know when someone spends the time to read and
look at the picture.

I hope you remain well until I post again.

Psalm 11

2009-05-11T21:34:00.007-04:00

I know it has been a long time, but I got hooked on FaceBook and was lax in keeping this blog up to date. Sorry. Well, on to one of my favorite "pages" so far. I showed you a bunch of the sketches and ideas a while back, but here is the final image printed on the "page":

I wanted to capture the image of the church being broken down, defeated, falling apart in the eyes of man, but yet, still watched over and protected by God.

I tried to create a sense of turmoil in the sky, but got the idea of including the eyes of God even among the chaos. Still watching, still in control, still the Ruler of all.

Once again, thanks go to my wonderful and insightful wife Lisa for pointing out that I needed to add the shadow in the foreground, which helped in creating a multi-dimensional feel to the print.
Almost forgot, for all my woodblock buddies, this was done and carved on a block of cherry wood.

I really struggled with the decorative initial and illumination, creating and then discarding idea after idea. Finally I found what I was looking for, at least the basis for the idea, in of all places a small piece of wallpaper!

I wanted something "alive", hope you understand, so I went with the vine idea.
I love the way vines not only grow, but many times overcome and sometimes take over the "host", so it fit well with the Psalm and it looked good on top of it all.

I stuck with classic colors, the deep blue and vibrant red, once again, it just seemed to "fit".
Here is the illumination, which as you will see is bigger and takes up more space than any of the previous illuminations.
This was an extremely short Psalm, so I had a lot of white space I needed to fill in, so I doubled up on the image. As you will see in the final image, I have begun moving in a direction of trying to tie everything together with some extra lines, which I really like and enjoyed.

Well, here is the final image, as I said, one of my favorites!

Psalm 10

2009-03-28T14:51:00.008-04:00

This Psalm came to me quite easily actually. Once I read through the Psalm, the idea and imagery just popped into my head and off I went.

The model is actually an attorney that worked in the same building as I did. A very nice guy and a good person, but I knew I could draw out the "tone" I was looking for, but it took a lot of photos to finally get him annoyed enough to get the expression I needed.

The background imagery fit well, but looking back with the current events I could have probably thrown in more financial institutions other than just the street sign. Here is the final image:

As you can see, I made some changes on the final image.

I changed the oil rigs from the drawing, I felt like it was too much in the middle and distracted from "flow".

It also gave me the chance to include the Psalm title, by making it into a tie clip.

Once again, I really tried to "weight" the lines, by carving some thick and some thin. I think it helps to give me a "gray" somewhat.

O.K., here are the decorative inital and illumination. The scan is not the greatest, as the tan is actually gold and the green is more of a warm color.

Here is the completed image. Once again, a long Psalm, but at least I got it to fit without doing anything odd or fancy. Comments are welcome!

Jumping Ahead; Feeling Crazy

2009-03-25T19:42:00.006-04:00

O.K., maybe I'm just crazy, but I am really having a blast carving Psalm 14. Loosely based on a Durer print. Using an old lino block. Oh yeah, image size is 6.5" x 8".

Psalm 9: Pushing the medium

2009-03-21T21:55:00.014-04:00

How thin can I carve a lino block?

I'll admit, once I had the idea for this image, I kinda got lost in the execution of the image more than the image itself, which for some reason bothered me for awhile. I really was trying to create an image that got across the idea of praising before the throne while the "enemies" of God are being crushed under the throne itself. Instead, it became, how do I make the sheet music look more it is in the background, but when it intersects with the throne, the musical notes become stronger, as if the throne was increasing and strengthening the sound. I finally found some solace in the fact that we were created to create, and to create well, excellently in fact. So, I found some peace (although before I print this again, I am going to see if I can fix up the number "9" somehow, it does not look right).
Here is the decorative initial :

As you can see, I decided to follow along with the musical
theme.

I decided to go with a more fluid look to the decorative initial
image, because the print was so linear, I felt like the illumination
needed to be a tad more curvy.

That and the fact that I seem to have some facsination with musical
with musical notes and such, maybe because of my Mom. She was fluent
in so many instruments, but when I was a child, she used to play the pipe
organ in a big Catholic Church. I fell asleep every night listening to her
practice and at times she would also play classical music, so even to this
day I will hear a classical piano piece and recognize it as one that my Mom used to play. OK, enough with the Pop Psychology. Here is the illumination:
As you may notice, the words of the Psalm intersect with the illumination. You will see why in a moment. This was so far the most difficult Psalm to to layout as a complete image: print, illumination, text and decorative initial, due to the fact that it is such a long Psalm.
I usually only print 2 or 3 "finished" prints on the larger Goyu paper (trying to save money). Well, I ruined the first finished print by not planning well, the second image by a major mistake in spelling, so I only had ONE print left. So, I spent some time laying this one out, and found that I had to fill some "white zones".
Here is the final image, let me know what you think.

Psalm 8: Finished

2009-03-16T18:49:00.009-04:00

Finally!
I actually complete these over time, but it costs sooooo much to scan them, I wait until I have 5 or more done before I get them scanned and uploaded.
*NOTE: Major props to FedEx/Kinko's on Dale Mabry and Fowler in Tampa, they are awesome!
So, this image took a long time to decide on. Not because of the image itself, but how do you show God's magnificence in creation? What to imagine; man? animals? universe? landscape? sunrise?
I decided I had to make a decision, and this is what I decided upon:

To me at least, a sunrise is the best way to display God's glory.
Just to remind those following this, these prints are
roughly 6.5" x 8" printed on paper (Goyu) that is roughly 15" x 21".
I only print two or three final copies on the large size paper, usually tossing about 5 or 6 proofs till I feel that the block is printing right.
On this one, I think I only did a few "correction" proofs until I felt I had it right.
For all my relief print friends, I'll go ahead and tell you that this was done on a Speedball 9 x 12 lino block.
Tried to see how thin I could get some lines (wait till you see Psalm 9, the pinnacle I think of my lino carving, if I do say so myself).
The image itself is a combination of some pictures I have snapped over the years.

O.K., on to the graphic folks.
Here is the Decorative Initial and Illumination.

I really like the color combination (click on the images for a
larger and clearer image).

I have been trying very hard to get these even minor details right, imagining myself as a monk sitting in a bare cell, attempting to please God by giving my best.
Here is the final image, love to hear any comments or ideas for future posts.
Stay tuned......

The Evolution of Psalm 11: continued

2008-12-06T17:57:00.004-05:00

I promised, so here it is, the final (well, I haven't proofed it yet, so some minor details may change), but this is the final block.

All the credit for the foreground goes to my lovely and wise wife, Lisa, who said "Where's the shadow?"
Duh, she was right. With the lighting the way I had it, there should have been a shadow. Hence, the foreground! She also recommended I change the landscape in the doorway to an angle, she was right on that also.

Behind every good man stands a better woman.

The Evolution of Psalm 11

2008-12-05T21:22:00.010-05:00

Hello again, it has been awhile.
Being a finance person, who mainly finances commercial construction equipment, has left me rather frustrated as of late. Either no one wants to buy anything, or the banks won't approve those who do want to buy.
But I always have my carving, designing and printing, so all is not lost.
I have found that God always provides.
O.K., on to the print. After studying forever, I finally "saw" the image in my head. Not the completed image, but at least the idea of what I wanted to convey.

I was reading and the it came to me; that even though we think the world is falling apart and the church is crumbling, God is still in charge and watching from the heavens. I had to do some research to find an old stone arch as an example and came up with this one:

So, now I had to turn this into an old crumbling church. This is the first sketch i came up with:

I also wanted to figure out the sky. I have always loved this background, and have used it a few times in the past, but never to this degree.

I decided to try a variation on the idea, but really wasn't as pleased with the result. I liked it, it looks really cool,but it wasn't really right for this design. I am sure by the time I am done with this series, it will get used again.

I also decided to add the eyes to the clouds. Trying to introduce the idea that God is watching, He sees what is going on, he knows the truth:

But what do I do with the foreground?

That was driving me crazy. I tried this, but rejected it:

I you can see, I changed the background again.
But the grass in the foreground just didn't work.
Everyone had an opinion, all of which I rejected.

So I set the block aside and waited.

I decided to go ahead and start the block, begin carving, and pray for an answer before I got to the bottom of the print! Risky, I know, but ....

Here is the image with the background all carved out. If you will look close, you can see that I hid the title in the print, kinda my own "where's Waldo" homage, or just copying Durer, but with the title instead of my name.

Uh oh, I just realized I never scanned the final block with the foreground solution!

Well, guess you'll have to wait. I'll try to post it soon, along with the beginning of Psalm 12, which is already being carved.

I really need to start printing again, so I can move on to finalizing the complete layout of the page image. Who knows, maybe someday someone will make this into a book.
Until we meet again, Shalom.

See, I was telling the truth

2008-10-07T23:27:00.003-04:00

I promised to show a few things in place of finished pieces, so here is the sketch for Psalm 10:
Here's about version 4 or five of the drawing, it's close enough to begin carving. I choose Lino again, mainly because there wasn't anything in the print that would benefit from the wood grain and I am still trying to see how thin of a line I can carve and print on Lino.
Here is the block itself, it was a 8" x 10" block, so the image size, like the last post, is about 6.5" x 7.25".

I'm Carving Away, Really, I Promise

2008-10-05T22:34:00.003-04:00

If there is a Blog Police, I'm a wanted man.
If there is a Printing Police, I'm in serious trouble.
I have been a carving maniac these last few weeks, I've completed the design and carving of
Psalm 9, Psalm 10 and almost finished with carving Psalm 11 !
So, I'll share the blocks until I get caught by the printing police, who will of course force me to get caught up or face the consequences, whatever they are.
Drum roll please ...................

Just An Update

2008-08-11T23:03:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update here. I have been sick lately, on and off, and have gotten behind again.
Psalm 8 is carved, as you saw, and Psalm 9 is almost completely carved, just need to remove the edges, I'll post the block tomorrow maybe.
Finally, Psalm 10 is all drawn out on paper, just need to get it on the block. Funny how some minor things can make us happy.
I have been depressed lately, but it comes and goes, even with all the medications I take.
So I get happy tonight; I found some really neat fine markers in some colors I hope I can use in the future, I finally figured out what it was about my Psalm 10 print that I didn't like (too much background, duh), and played RockStar at a friends house (I totally stink at it).
Many of you don't know, but God blessed me and my wife 17 years ago with a severally autistic angel named Hannah. She has had a good summer so far, here is a picture of her and my lovely, precious and patient wife Lisa out on the bay in my bosses boat:

Psalm 8, a teaser

2008-07-31T19:00:00.002-04:00

O.K., I haven't had time to print this yet, but thought I would at least show you the block:

Psalm 7, another favorite

2008-07-29T18:52:00.008-04:00

I like the imagery of this Psalm. It came to me on a visit to Washington, DC., with my wife and daughter. The idea of justice, in all its forms and functions, was being illustrated by the sites I saw.
I really liked the way the sky turned out, I used a dremmel again to poke holes in the lino-block.
This is also the first time I experimented with the white line concept in the building.

This was my longest Psalm yet, calligraphy wise, and took a good deal of time and practice to get the spacing and layout correct. Below are the decorative capital and a sample of the text.

I switched from the calligraphy marker to a calligraphy pen that had different nibs, then had to write out the Psalm two or three times to get the spacing right:

Just in case you didn't know, you
can click on any image and see
the enlargement.

I really like the bottom image, one of my favorites so far-

And here is the final image. Love to hear the comments!

This is as far as I have gotten with completed prints, I have the blocks carved for Psalm 8 and Psalm 9, still fighting in my head with the image for the woodblock (I've got 6 cherry blocks cut to the size I need!) for Psalm 10.
Funny thing is, I am biting at the bit to get to Psalm 11, I already have the image in my head all planned out.

Psalm 6, my favorite so far

2008-07-27T13:11:00.007-04:00

I'm tired today, so I will just post images with little talk: I used myself this time as the model and borrowed slightly from the book of Kells again for the illumination, with some minor changes of course to fit my idea.

And of course, the final image:

Psalm 5: Using your friends

2008-07-26T12:32:00.000-04:00

This was another new print in the series and one of the funnest yet.

I used our executive book keeper at work, Ryan, as my model. He was very gracious in posing for me, but I had to add the tie myself (I don't know if Ryan even owns a tie!). This is one of those prints where the image was in my head for quite a few weeks, so once I had the model the drawing, carving and printing went very quickly.

In my original drawing, I had the road going backwards at a straight angle, but once I got it on the lino-block, I decided the road should be curved or arched to add some depth. I also changed the sky, which originally was going to be just white, but I wanted more, more, more, so I added some fun by attempting to make the sky look like dawn, which fit the passage better. I used a dremmel tool, set at highest speed, and just used to or three different heads, carefully pushing it down into the block. This is also the first print where I incorporated the title into the actual print, hence the road sign.
Here is the capital letter and bottom image, using my favorite spare time scribble, vines wrapped around an image.
And the bottom art:

And here is the final piece. The text was the hardest part, I had to practice the calligraphy many, many times to get the whole thing to fit on one piece of paper. I usually practice by writing the chapter out completely on a scrap paper, then keep figuring out the layout and spacing necessary to get it all pleasing to the eye.

Psalm 4

2008-07-24T19:16:00.000-04:00

"O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah."
By the way, all of these pieces that I am doing are using the King James version of the Bible. Somehow I just thought it was right to use the King James, it seemed to fit better with the whole scheme of what I was getting at.
Wow, where do I begin with this Psalm? There were so many ways I could go, but my mind got stuck on the passage above more than any other, so I went with my gut and did the following image:

I was trying to depict the many things that people put there time, money, love, passion and interest in, other than looking to God for their happiness and contentment, myself included. Many of the things in this print are personal passions of mine, and dislikes also. Some people like this print, some don't. I will say this, it is one of my favorites to draw and carve. I tried for so many textures and one homage to a fellow printer in Chicago.

This is the last print to actually include the title so bold in the print, after this I gave up and started to include them in the image itself.

How many passions can you find?

Here is the decorative capital:

I really wish the gold would show up the way it really looks in person, I just feel like it doesn't have the total effect online. Once again, I was trying to be cool by adding a bit of the image into the decorative letter, this time by using a design similar to a dollar bill (even though the face on the print is a for a hundred dollar bill). The illuminated design is one I like, it covers the bottom of the piece entirely, I can usually only get away with that when I do the short Psalm's
(my daughter likes to tease me about how I am going to do Psalm 139, but I will cross that bridge when I get there).
Here is the design:

O.K., here is the final piece:

Psalm 3 and a clarification

2008-07-23T18:05:00.000-04:00

Thought I should let everyone know that I am already up to Psalm 8 in finished pieces, I just started this blog a few days ago. I'm not superhuman and no way could I design, carve, print and letter and color and everything in one day! This blog will eventually get to a point when the finished works will be more spaced out over a longer period of time.
So, on to Psalm 3!
Here is the original sketch, which I actually did secretly in church one day when it came to me (didn't want the pastor to think I was ignoring him):

The image idea was from the passage "But thou,
O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the
lifter up of mine head".
As time went on and the sketches became more
detailed, I decided to add "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about" to the image. Well, here is the final print, done on lino-block:

As you can see, I made a lot of changes to the original idea. The shield changed, the swords became more intense, people were added and I got to carve my favorite things: wings! I love doing wings, I just think they look cool in prints. It doesn't hurt also that wings are an acceptable design principle in anything religious. This is almost the last time I tried to actually carve the title into the print, I just don't think I was made for carving out letters. Funny isn't it, I can carve the finest detail on and in designs, but give me letters or numbers and I screw them up somehow. My favorite figure in the crowd of "enemies" is the one with the hand raised up in the "rock on" symbol (center under the shield).
Now, I love the decorative capital, but some people think it is too much.

Showing the illumination part is too hard, because it encompasses the the print almost entirely. So I am just going to show the final image down below and call it a day. This is one of my personal favorites by the way.

P.S. In case anyone ever wonders, my chop mark is the letter "d", although I should have done it
inverted

Psalm 2

2008-07-22T18:04:00.001-04:00

Well, I skipped yesterday, figured I had already posted on the Sabbath, so I better skip a day.
Only kidding, not that conservative, just didn't have much too say.
O.K., Psalm 2. Here is a sketch of my original idea.
Oh yeah, when I was in college I heard this preacher, Ern Baxter, give a sermon on this Psalm when I lived in Bowling Green, OH. I had had the idea for this image ever since then, almost 20 years rolling around in my brain. The Psalm tells of how the rulers of the nations, feeling strong and bold in their own strength, gathered together and decided to break the chains they felt God had put on them (Hence the United Nations logo, strong arms and the breaking of the chains). Of course the Psalm goes on to speak of how God will crush them, but I had the imagery I needed for my print. I don't always show everything the Psalm discusses, but what my "vision" was after reading and studying the Psalm. The essence of what I "saw", I suppose, would be a good way to word it. I'm not a theologian, or a Bible expert, but I want to, Dew what I Dew! Hah. Here is the final print version, same size as the all the rest, printed on the same paper with the same Graphic Chemical Ink.

As you can see, I changed a few things from the original sketch, but not much. This image was carved
on Cherry wood, rather than on a linoblock like the
Psalm 1. To try and add some depth to the image, I added the lines going through the United Nations logo, while also creating super highlights and contrast in the arms and hands, making it almost cartoonish, which I liked. So I went ahead and made the "city" look like a cartoon also, furthering the idea that fighting or denying God was laughable.
When the preacher described the way the Greek spoke of God "holding them in derision", he compared it to a little two year old trying to beat up a professional heavyweight boxer, that it was laughable, foolish.
Until of course God had had enough of the foolishness and crushed them. Here is the decorative initial for the Psalm:

I continued on with the buildings in the capital letter, wish you could see this in person, the scanning just does not like gold and messes everything up.
Some one asked me about the calligraphy. Yes, I do all of it myself on the same piece of paper I did the print on and the capital letter on. So not only does the print need to look nice, but I also can't mess up the capital letter, or the Psalm lettering, or the illumination, or the whole thing gets trashed. I do keep copies of all the "templates", so if I ever want to do another one it shouldn't be too hard. Oh yeah, for the first few Psalms, I used a calligraphy pen that I bought at Target for about five bucks. As time went on, I invested in a better calligraphy pen with interchangeable nibs.
Here is the final image:

Psalm 1, A Beginning

2008-07-20T18:42:00.000-04:00

I'm really not sure how to start this, so I decided to just jump in and at least write something, even if it sounded stupid or weird. After reading and rereading the Psalm many times, I saw a river through a plane of space separated by extreme weather conditions:
But the "ground" needed to be something, so I decided on the book because that it where it all began for me, in "the" book.
I also decided to include the Psalm title in the actual woodblock print, which later I have "Durerized" by hiding it within the image, sometimes boldly and sometimes like a a "where's Waldo" located title, or just placed it at the bottom if I couldn't work it into the image.
I tried to mirror the image, on the left being lush and green and plentiful, while on the right burned out, degrading and crumbling.
The image was carved on a linoblock and I used Graphic Chemical's black water based ink. Hand rolled and printed on Goyu paper by my own hands (funny side note, I printed the first print on the wrong side of the paper, leaving me no space to put the calligraphy text of the Psalm).
Now for the fun part! Once the print was primed up right, I printed the woodblock onto the paper and got ready to add the text. I have really tried to make the illuminated portion of the image work with the text and illumination, sometimes the outcome was not exactly what I wanted, but this time I think it worked. Here is the key decorative capital:
The letter I think is from the Book of Kells, but since I rarely follow the rules, I've changed it up a little bit. I hope this works, cause I'm still trying to figure out this layout stuff, but here is the bottom image:

It is really hard to see here, but I have used the same colors and the same animals, just in different positions. I know it doesn't look like it, but the gold color is really a bright gold color, about as close as I could get to the real thing. Someday maybe I will try using gold leaf, but for now I've found that multiple layers of a gold pen will give you quite a brilliant, shiny gold. Oh well, too much talk, here is the final image. Once I figure out how much and how to sell these "prints?", I post them up:

Stay tuned, I will post Psalm 2 soon (oh yeah, I did the calligraphy also), total paper size is roughly 15" x 21".

How it all began

2008-07-19T19:58:00.000-04:00

When I first starting researching woodblock printing, I found some images that were used to make illuminated manuscripts. With the invention of movable type, lots of poor monks suddenly found themselves not needed. Bibles could now be mass produced, quickly and cheaply. But I think we lost something as a society, we lost the beautiful images and hand written pages these monks and artists made.
So, I decided to "try" and bring back a little of the old and mix in in with a little of the new, creating my own illuminated manuscript, based on the Book of Psalms.
I had already done a woodblock print for an exchange with the Baren Group (http://www.barengroup.org) that was based on Psalm 2, so that was the start of my quest.
I've posted just a copy of the image, later I will post the whole illuminated page, also with an explanation of how I "saw" the Psalm, visually.

A First Timer

2008-07-18T20:45:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally figured this all out and hope everyone enjoys.
To start, I am an artist trapped in an hourly job. No bars and chains, but a desk and telephone have kept me from my love for over twenty years. I love to create, envision, interpret and share.
I started into printmaking during college, because my mother would claim any good painting or pastel drawing as hers, so she would wind up with the only copy. But with printmaking, I can sell, share, giveaway, whatever and still have one or more left over. I started with etching, moved on to lithography and finished my education with screen printing. But that was twenty plus years ago.
Once I got out of school, I stopped almost everything except the once in awhile painting or drawing.
But then, my daughter Meagan had to learn about the invention of movable type and printing.
So, off to the local art store where I found some Speedball printing blocks, ink, carving tools, brayer and paper. Amazed, I could do this on the kitchen table!
And thus I began.