Recent work

Publication date: 7 December 2023

I created the original block for this print back in the summer. It was originally going to be part of a multi-block print, but I decided that the forest image wasn't quite right for what I had in mind.

A few weeks ago, I decided to apply the reduction method to the block - printing a light layer, then cutting away part of the block, then printing the next darkest layer. I repeated the process three times to produce the sense of the forest fading into mist.

At each stage, the cutting was very demanding, as most of the tree detail was not contained in the original block - but a lot of the white cut-out was - so the position of many of the leaves and branches was dictated by the shapes and paths I was able to find in the original cut block (as hard to do as it is to describe here!)

With the three-stage print finished, I wanted to introduce the additional element of the birds. 

Instead of printing these, I decided to draw them onto the print with charcoal pencil. Earlier, I experimented with printing the bird shapes, but I was unhappy with the detail I was able to achieve.

The print of the forest is an edition of 20 (note that the block is now destroyed via the reduction process - so 20 is as many prints as there will ever be!) My plan is to add the drawn element to each print in response to print orders. Subject to how that goes, this will result in three small editions - one without birds, one with crows, and one with magpies.

All three versions will be on sale in my webshop very soon - in the meantime, if you would like pricing information and/or would like to pre-book a print, send me an email!