Psalm 28

^{2 "} Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help,"

In my mind, whenever I consider what is going on in the world today, I imagine the events as swirling, angry and invasive "winds".  When I consider my safety or harbor, I see the cross.  But many times, too many times, those winds try to invade my harbor, my safety.

But the cross remains: sturdy, strong and never bending or breaking.

I tried out so many ideas and techniques on this print and wood block that I felt like it was an experiment.  But the final image, when printed, came out so cool and so detailed that I kept it as a final, completed Psalm.

I used cherry wood for the block, finely sanded and prepared.  Still using mainly an ex-acto knife, my only other tool was a very sharp and very lethal tungsten needle.  I started off merely marking the lines with the steel needle very lightly, then decided to go back over the lines multiple times, going deeper with each "scratch" until the void was deep enough for printing.


For all my printmaking buddies, the paper was Zerkal 145 lb. off -white book, cut in half for a paper size of 18" x 30".  Block was printed with Graphic Chemical water soluble black ink using the Western method of a brayer and dry paper.  I do not use a press for the impression, just good old school muscles with a wooden spoon and glass of whiskey.

The decorative initial and color choices for the illumination were inspired by the image.  I used just plain old water based paints from Michaels Crafts and a very teeny tiny paintbrush.

I wish you could see the original images, the gold never scans correctly, but looks awesome!

Here is the final image in all it's glory.  Let me know what you think.

Psalm 27

I have been doing this blog for years now, but is anybody reading it?  I keep thinking of the lyrics to a song, "Is there anybody out there?  Does anyone care?".  So, if you do read this, leave a comment below, please.

 One of the things that annoyed me in my college education and subsequent readings over the years has been the "opinions" of historians and critics on the "meaning" behind paintings and drawings.  How did they really "know" what the artist meant, or was getting at, or what inspired them?  It was all a guess, maybe an intellectual one, maybe not, but it is still a guess. 

So, that being said, this time I would like to focus mainly on the image and TELL you my motive, inspiration, meaning, etc.....

I must have read this psalm over and over again twenty times before it hit me, this image is not going to be about a specific verse or group of verses, but about the ":feeling" I get when I read the whole psalm: safe.

So, what says safe?  After considering many ideas and images, I finally settled on the image you now see, a cleat.  Once that idea took shape, the rest came along easily.  The rope represents ourselves and our lives; twisted, rough, non-uniform, strong and rotting at the same time.  But wrapped around the cleat?  Security, safety, tied, etc.....

As you may have noticed, I like to represent God, or the idea of God, as pure white.

Technical details: lino block, Zerkall Book 145gm, Graphic Chemical Black w/s ink.

Peace out.  If enough people comment, I will come back and explain the decorative initial and illumination. 

Psalm 26

This is one of my most exciting Psalm's to date.  I stretched myself visually and artistically, creating an image I had no idea if I could even carve, let alone print.

There were so many parts of this Psalm I could have focused on, or the Psalm as a whole could have been envisioned and drawn.  But I decided on a verse, and an image, that was a little more obscure.

^{4 "} I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers."

Per my favorite, Merriam-Webster online dictionary,

1: to hide under a false appearance

2: to put on the appearance of : simulate

intransitive verb

: to put on a false appearance : conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense 

And the shoes, ah the shoes!  In very many countries, cultures and backgrounds, putting shoes on top of something, even throwing shoes, is meant as a sign of disdain and disgust.  So, I decided to place a pair of shoes on top of a selection of books, that in my opinion, propagate dissembling.

 Here is a close up of the print itself.  This was created on linoleum, the total image size being 6.25" x 8", and carved almost exclusively with an x-acto knife.  

My goal, how thin can I carve and print?  The lines came out nicely and I used Graphic Chemical water based black ink for the printing.  But, in my opinion, the linoleum has too much give to create a line as "tight" as I would like, but it still came out quite nicely.




The decorative initial and illumination are also something new for me.  I decided to go with silver rather than gold, and I also decided to go with colored ink rather than paint.  I also decided to go back to just straight calligraphy, without much embellishment.

 









  


And here is the final, complete image!