This print was carved and printed at Graham's
workshop. Many thanks also to Dave Bull for his guidance. The wood is
local Appalachian mountain cherry and the paper is Yamaguchi-san's
hosho.
It uses 6 blocks made with the following impressions:
- (1,2) Black sumi key-block (printed twice). Since the
registration was critical, I inked the block, printed it as usual,
then without lifting the paper completely off, re-inked the block
with sumi and printed again. I then let this pigment 'settle' for
most of the day to keep smearing and offsetting onto the other
blocks to a minimum.
- (3,4) Blue/green bokashi background was done in two stages:
one light band followed by a narrower darker one.
- (5) Medium blue/gray body background on chickens' bodies.
- (6) Yellow hay/beaks.
- (7, 8) Dark gray bokashi on hen and two upper chicks (printed
twice).
- (9) Dark gray bokashi on lower chick.
- (10) Brown bokashi on hay.
- (11) Red comb printed with a lot of water for that 'mottled
wattle' texture.
I had also carved an additional chickenwire block to be printed
over the whole design. After much deliberation, I decided that they
should be 'free-range' chickens.
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While at the workshop, I made a pact to eat chicken every night
out until I was finished with the print. You might say that it was
kind of like 'method acting' for woodblock printing. Anyway, after a
week of this, I soon found myself waking up before the sun with the
urge to yell "COCKLEDOODLEDOO!!". Out of respect for sleeping
printmakers, I would instead quietly sneak out to the backyard and
scratch for bugs.
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