Wanting to progress to the next stage, I purchased new materials around the time I finished "Ladies in waiting" but I waited until I finished "But first...Cherries" in the series before I made the switch. I bought new printing ink, switching from water-based to oil-based. I choose new blocks in battleship grey lino starting with 6x8, a touch bigger than my previous 4x6's. The next piece would also be on watercolor paper instead of mixed media paper. I wanted the texture and the deckled edge I've always loved on a float mount. I'm still burning by hand and this has proved challenging with the oils and thicker paper. I can't quite fathom doing much larger pieces this way. It's making more sense why some artists make less than 10 in a run. I'll have a press someday and look back and say, remember when I used to press these all with my own brute strength!!?
The subject for my first oil on watercolor paper is the blue and white bird of paradise or Giant Bird of Paradise, botanical name Stelitzia Nicolai. It's actually my favorite of the different varieties, which may be surprising since the more common smaller Bird of Paradise is more colorful. It's the Giant's fabulous height and gorgeous banana leafish leaves in contrasting greens and blue-greens.
The first cuts are rarely the deepest.
The shape of the blossom, a bird taking flight, often symbolizes freedom and the ability to soar. My own interpretation, the giant bird of paradise symbolizes "to soar to great heights".
Fun fact: The blossom was named to honor Queen Charlotte, an amateur botanist (1744-1818) And Stelitz means "archers". Another soaring symbol.
The blossoms I used as my inspiration are towering about 20-25 ft high in my neighbors yard. A challenge to photograph. I originally was going for a vertical and I did buy large vertical lino BUT I'm beginning my lino journey with a smaller piece sized 6x8. And those dimensions made the blossoms quite teeny when showcasing the height of these birds. I decided to zoom in on the blossoms and the leaves surrounding them at such great heights.
Giant Bird of Paradise
The Lino has a bit of prep to it and being in the midst of a online fast, I didn't want to break to go on YouTube, I then suddenly remembered, "Sarah, you bought books!" Oh how good it feels to consult a book for information. I went with Laura Boswell's suggestion to lightly sand it and gently wash with soap and water. I did chose to not stain it, but I get how that is helpful to show where you have carved. Maybe next time I'll try staining it. Truth be told I skipped it because I was very eager to get started. Kind of like I never tape off a wall before I paint it.
My guideline composition transferred to the block via graphite pencil then I fine point sharpied over that, as the pencil will smudge and eventually wear off with the inking and washing of the block. Yes, the sharpie will bleed onto the first few layers but it eventually gets covered by darker layers. And I say guideline because I sometimes make changes when carving, adding detail or simplifying areas.
I began by carving out some of the white petals (sepals) that I would use the color of the paper for. Then inked up Layer 1: alabaster for slight contrast and separation of the petals. Does it look like a piece of blank paper? Subtlety =)
Layer 1: alabaster
I then carved out the remaining petals except for the few that would be blue. Mixing up the next color, Layer 2: light ballerina pink. Which would serve as a few spots in the blossoms, a few marks on the gecko and the dried edges of the long stems and the stock instead of their in real life wheat shade.
Layer 2: ballerina pink
Video of Layer 3, of course I do not normally do this one handed.
I then carved out all those areas and mixed up the next color, the lightest of the greens. Layer 3: bright mint green for leaf highlights from the filtering sunlight, and some leaf veins.
Layer 3: Bright minty
Next leaf veins and the tiny Gecko. The gecko was actually on the flowers when I zoomed in. He was going to be included if I could tell it was a gecko when I carved and pressed it. If not, he was going to disappear into the stem. Layer 4 bright grass green.
Layer 4: Grass green
HINDSIGHT: When I do this subject again, I will try sticking with the creams/tans/pinks followed by the blues THEN all the greens. I went with lightest to darkest which is how you do this medium and particular process but I think perhaps sticking with the color families would have kept the green out of the blossoms as they would have been completely carved out when I began the greens.
Next were the two blues, Layer 5: cerulean for the petals and Layer 6: a blue with more grey and purple..hmmm Cornflower blue (?) as the base of the flower, the spathe. But this color on top of cerulean venturing on cobalt, became just a slightly different shade of cobalt once it dried. I didn't take into consideration the color stacking changing it so much. I could have mixed a new lighter color but I didn't want to lose more detail and some of the fine lines from previous layers. At this point the following contradicting questions entered my mind: Did I ruin it? and "Will this be better than I planned?
(Top) Layer 4, Lino, Layer 5: Cerulean Blue venturing on Cobalt
Layer 5 of "Strange Birds" hanging to dry
(Top) Layer 5, Lino, Layer 6: Cornflower Blue
HINDSIGHT: I may have ended with a more slate blue had I switched the order of these blues. But then green would have been beneath it which would have given it a slight teal hue.
So many layers in, so little it looks like I've carved.
Next came the greens. And at this point I didn't know just how many shades of green there would be so I began with a lightest and a bit on the teal side. Layer 7: a smoky teal.
Layer 7: Teal Smoke
A stumbled upon sunset while finished up in the studio. September sky with the moon and Venus. Then my brain began trying to figure this out as a block print.
“Who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves, and the tumult of the peoples, so that they who dwell at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs. You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy” ~Psalm 65:7-8
Moonscape/Sunset with Venus
After layer 7 hardened, it was too dark to add multiple even darker greens on top of, so I went lighter. I also needed a color for the "how am I going to express the bokeh background between the leaves" question I had not dealt with yet. With the bokeh I started carving freehand with lines and almost circles. It was either going to work or I was ruining it. And I felt like I was ruining it. Layer 8: pistachio venturing on local avocado.
(Top) Layer 7, Lino, Layer 8: Pistachio
Layer 8 of "Strange Birds"
And with pistachio really lighting the place up and giving me opportunities to add highlights, next was layer 9, a bright teal. Is this color in the giant bird of paradise? If you have a good imagination it does. But it sure looked great with pistachio. The bokeh also somehow looked awesome but pistachio needed a darker contrast so I didn't carve out anymore so that the next dark green would cover the teal.
(top) Layer 8, Layer 9: Bright Teal
The next green was either going to be the second to last or the last layer depending on how it looked. After the first pull I knew it was the last layer. Layer 10: Deep Sea Green
(Top) Layer 9, Layer 10: Deep Sea Green
Layer 9 next to layer 10 of "Strange Birds"
Video of Layer 9 of 10.
My dad brought in my own drying side table. I'd been setting clean cardboard on the table saw. They bought a chair at Costco and it came in a VERY nice cardboard box. I cut down the box to give me enough cardboard for many print runs to come. They topped the table perfectly.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
My favorite part are the breaks in the largest leaf on the right with the curled over edges.
"Strange Birds" Final Layer 10, Edition of 12
I upgraded my drying system or rather with oils, the airing system. I was using a found spool of hemp rope that kept stretching. This cord was also found in the garage but more heavy duty and long enough to stretch to another beam. They hang more level now and not as prone to curling. Because my studio is outside and Hawaii is extremely humid, the bulldog clips rust almost immediately, so I cut tiny pieces of parchment paper to go between the clip and my art which I refresh with each run as the rust eventually seeps though.
$3 Drying system.
When I began this subject with these materials, before I started inking, I’d planned to float the framed one on a grass cloth. While looking though the various natural colors grass cloth came in I ran across a dyed blue one. Even though the natural one was the plan, and I saved the buying info for the natural one, I could not stop thinking about the blue one. But that shade of blue didn't go with my planned color palette.
Fast forward a couple of weeks to layer 6, the cornflower blue not drying the intended color because of layer 5, the cerulean blue. I had two questions Did I ruin it or Will it be better than I planned. Well, now the blue grass cloth WAS the right color. I liked it both with the natural and also the blue.
If it's not good, then it's just not finished yet. Keep going!
.JPG "Strange Birds reduction linocut layer 8 by Sarah Bello")
