Work in Progress - a linocut for "Our Rarer Monsters"

I'm currently working on the seventh linocut of a series of eight that will be published in a book of poetry by Noel Sloboda later this year. The book will be "Our Rarer Monsters", and I've been posting the linocuts and some various related images over on flickr. Here's the first little doodle, drawn on the manuscript while reading the poems and thinking about the kinds of images I wanted to make: Then there were some thumbnail sketches in the sketchbook - here's an excerpt from that particular exploration with the pen: And here's the initial drawing that I worked up on the block, before I made the first cut: As I've been working on these prints I've been scanning the blocks. I've found this to be useful as a way of deciding where to go next with the gouge. I can take the scan in photoshop, heighten the contrast to get a sense of the final black and white look of the linocut, and reverse the image to see the mirror image composition that will be the actual finished print. That reversal can have big effects on a composition, so it's helpful to have some sense of what's going to happen. But I realized that the scans themselves were becoming kind of beautiful as images on their own, both for the contrast between the carved mark and the drawn mark, and because the surface gets so heavily worked as I draw and erase and redraw, looking for both the correct value and, often more critically, the direction of the cut that I want to make next. I tend to work very slowly and sneak up on the image, and try to avoid settling in to a pattern when I cut. I really want to draw with the gouge. So, I post these hybrid images as a sort of "behind-the-scenes" look at how the linocuts happen. It's a different species of drawing than what I do in my sketchbook. Some of the marks are describing value, and some are shorthand marks recording decisions about which direction my next cut should take - which of the possible cross-contours my gouge will follow. The last image above is the current state of the block - plenty of opportunities left to screw it up. Stay tuned to see if it survives.

linocut for "Our Rarer Monsters"

linocut for "Our Rarer Monsters" (Polonius) a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

A new linocut, one of eight that will accompany Noel Sloboda's "Our Rarer Monsters", which will be published by sunnyoutside press in 2012.

2" x 2", 12-19-11, animated

Wind Up and Wound Up for Christmas

2" x 2", 12-16-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-12-11

2" x 2", 12-12-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-11-11

2" x 2", 12-11-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-10-11

2" x 2", 12-10-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-9-11

2" x 2", 12-9-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

2" x 2", 12-8-11

2" x 2", 12-8-11 a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

After Rembrandt, with bonus T-Rex

After Rembrandt - Pteranodon

A Dutch landscape with a bonus pteranodon. Fun with the fine point pen in the sketchbook. . .

Lynda Barry thinks about why adults don't draw.

"One idea I have is, the big change that happens in drawing is when a kid is drawing, the paper is a place for an experience. At some point, the paper transforms into a thing that is good or bad, rather than a place where the paper itself isn't -- you've seen kids draw and they don't give a shit [afterward], they just leave [the drawing] on the table. An adult spends the same amount of time [drawing] and they don't know what to do with it. What's it for? They get freaked out about what this thing might be for because there's this idea that it's for something. They don't do that when they take a walk or a bike ride. They don't take a bike ride and then go, "Man, what do I do with this now? I don't know if that was really good. I felt like this was a good bike ride," but then they saw this video and, "No, it wasn't a good bike ride." [Laughs]"

Lynda Barry, thinking about why adults stop drawing.

from an interview with Chris Mautner

book cover for "The TSANTA Expedition"

book cover for "The TSANTA Expedition" a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

I was delighted to do the drawing for the cover of Joseph Ridgwell's "The Tsanta Expedition", beautifully produced by Bottle of Smoke Press

Ruffs

Ruffs a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

Scratching in the sketchbook, working towards another linocut. . .

Current Events. . .

UC Davis a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

The Nasdaq Range

The Nasdaq Range a photo by Marc Snyder on Flickr.

A crumb from my sketchbook.

a linocut for Our Rarer Monsters

This is the first of eight linocuts that I am producing for "Our Rarer Monsters", a book of poetry by Noel Sloboda that will be published in 2012 by sunnyoutside press. I'm planning on posting process shots and finished linocuts from the suite of prints as I make them, so tune in over the next couple of months to cheer and/or jeer, as the results merit.

Well, nuts.

One of the pleasures in my life is to wake up to see the sunrise from the top of our hill - here's this morning's edition:



Sadly, one of the pieces of that view is being chopped down today:



How could they cut that particular tree down? Don't they know that it is always beautifully silhouetted in the sunrise?

Ah well. My 5 year old daughter reassured me this morning while we were waiting for the school bus that there are lots of other trees that could be my favorite.

Library Card

Computers have made some things a little less fun. Kindergartners checking out library books is one of those things.

Light Switch, from the "art for jerks" series

Interested in purchasing "Light Switch"? The price is based on a sliding scale determined by the prestige of the location of the light switch. Wall-mounted toggle switch and electrical current not included.

Drawing to be Destroyed

Hopefully transformed, instead of destroyed. A drawing on a linoblock that I've just started cutting.

One of the good things in life

3 year olds tell odd jokes

Barnabas Google, Thespian

For my most recent book, I unearthed images documenting Barney Google's early career as a Shakespearean actor, before he had his big break in the comic strips.

Here's Barney Google as he is more widely known:



And here are a couple of images from the book:





You can see the entire book online, along with a growing archive of older FIMP books.

"Fleeting Pages" and FIMP on Flickr

I am participating in "Fleeting Pages", a great project taking place next month in Pittsburgh. Fleeting Pages describes itself as "taking over (taking back?) a space, left empty by a failed big box bookstore, for one month, starting MAY 7th, and filling it with independent & self-published work of all kinds, book arts, workshops, and events. All revolving around written self-expression."

The location is the former Borders bookstore in East Liberty. There are currently more than 100 small press publishers, writers, and artists who will be participating, with more coming in all the time.

You can learn more about the project at their website:

Fleeting Pages

And if you are (or know) an artist making books, or a writer writing books, or a publisher publishing books, there's still time to submit work to this event.

I've also been busily uploading FIMP's archive of tiny books to Flickr - you can see all of the artwork from 25 of the tiny books at:

FIMP's books on Flickr

Eventually I'll have the majority of the 106 (and counting) books available online, so you can browse the complete results of a misspent decade at the Fiji Island Mermaid Press.