Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Transparent layers

I've put a picture of my first big woodcut below just to give an idea of how opaque I was working. I'm almost finished with it aside from adding a few more low lights in the dark green. Over all I'm proud of how it's turning out but am enjoying the experimentation with transparency in my new waterfall piece.

My latest success with transparency was the laying of a transparent yellow over a light blue. It turned into a nice light bright green with the subtle hit of both blue and yellow peeking through. The wood grain is very present which was even more rewarding. I have also come to the realization that by letting the grain work for me in the image, I don't have to over compensate for detail with as many colors. The combination of subtle transition in color and the wood grain creates a nice movement. The grain pattern becomes a part of my landscape and I can simply focus on the simplicity of the image, which was my main goal in the first place.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Me and my woodgrain

I talked about my start in wood cut in my first blog so now I'm going to focus more on how I've come along and what I've discovered since then. The reason I've continued working with woodcut is because I have started focusing more on how the medium woks with my imagery. While working with color layering I discovered how beautiful the wood grain truly was and how much it emphasized the movement of my landscapes. For my first big woodcut, my main goal was to find a wood grain that I felt mimicked the layout and patterns I found in my landscape. I used the wood grain as a guide. I made my marks by following the pattern of the grain but also trying to represent the image. Since I worked so hard to seek out a wood grain that worked with my image, I decided it was foolish for me to cover up the visibility of the grain. This leads me to my most recent piece. I am experimenting with transparency; and for the most part it's working out wonderfully. I had it in my head that I needed to use opaque ink to transfer the grain or else it would never show up on the paper. I was right only to a point. It worked if I only laid down one color but as I continued to layer colors on top I would loose the grain. I've learned it is best to use thin transparent layers because it preserves the wood grain longer. I also had to figure out a way to make my layers thin, thin, thin. I always used a soft roller and had a tendency to over ink because otherwise I would find spots that didn't get inked up all the way. I found that just thorough rolling with a hard roller helped a lot. Rather than just slathering the entire image and getting a bold grain pattern, I am now able to see a subtle grain pattern that continues to pronounce itself with each thin layer I place on top. This is also really helping my image because the buildup of ink is not so bad. I'm excited to see if I can maintain the appearance of wood grain up until my last layers. I'm enjoying this process of push and pull. I'm learning a lot about what options I have and what textures I am able to create. For my next projects I am planning to create a series of small wood cuts and continue experimenting with color layering but also pushing my color pallet.



Sunday, December 6, 2009

The beginning of landscapes and woodcuts


My excitement and interest in creating landscape images from woodcut started in December 2008. I was working on my final project for the semester, a small woodcut (15.5" x 14") of Yesnaby, my favorite location in Scotland; which I had visited that summer. My inspiration came from looking at a woodcut by Gorden Mortensen in the fine print collection at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota. I found his mark making and use of color exceptional and it prompted me to attempt one of my own woodcuts. I highly recommend taking a look at his work. http://www.gordonmortensen.com/ I still reference him quite often throughout my woodcutting process. I enjoyed working with the wood and picking out the shapes and patterns I saw in the landscape. Creating my own color pallet and how it worked with the wood was also something that drew out the painterly side of me. Piecing everything together turned out to be a challenge that pushed me as an artist. I had only worked with wood a couple times and almost all my earlier work had been figurative/ narrative; so working with a landscape felt like a different way of thinking for me. I went about it another way and in doing so I felt far less restricted. I always had this pressure of creating a perfect likeness of whatever I was trying to recreate in my art but working with wood forced me to loosen up. Wood does not always do exactly what you ask of it so I had to learn to compromise and problem solve when the would would chip off in places that where not meant to be removed. So all in all, I felt woodcut really helped me as an artist and I am enjoying my continued exploration with the medium.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

About me

Shaina Davis was born and raised in Crookston, MN. She is the eldest daughter of Marlo and Sheila Davis. She is currently working toward her BFA degree at Minnesota State University of Moorhead with an emphasis in printmaking and a minor in art history. Davis was a participating member of MSUM’s Drawing co-op, Works on Paper Guild and was secretary of Painting Guild. Her work has been exhibited at several locations including the Plains Art Museum, in Fargo, ND, Roland Dille Gallery at MSUM, Atomic Coffee in Moorhead and the Upfront Gallery, in Fargo, ND. She also enjoyed volunteering in Fargo for the 2008 Mid America Print Conference and the 2009 “Day of the Dead” steam roller wood block printing event. After graduating in the Spring, Davis plans on attending graduate school.