The water color journals of artist and educator John Perry
Snowman Print 2021
This year’s linocut print is very topical and reflects the strange times we’re living in.
It took me a couple sketches to get the right image that I was willing to carve and then print. There is a bit of improvisation in the carving process but you really need to preplan the finished image only you have to think backwards.
My final sketch where I zeroed in on the design, which didn’t change much from this sketch.Okay there is one less button in the carved block. You will notice that the final print, the image is reversed.
In the end I’m satisfied with the final prints and they speak to the post Covid times. While Christmas is an escape from reality, we should never fully forget what has happened in the past few years and this image is a reminder.
Carving the block. I went over the lines in a back marker so it makes carving out the image a little bit easier. I made a few mistakes in the carving but now, like Japanese pottery, they become part of the final product.Here is the finished block with my makeshift registration jig. The jig lines up the paper so the print appears in the same place on every printing. Now it only needed to be charged with black ink and pressed into paper.This print was one of those “happy accidents”. The paper shifted slightly during printing and created a unique image that is almost impossible to duplicate. I love it’s expressiveness. I gave this print to my best friend.
Corvid Sketcher 