I am working on a new Art Prize project. This is a large woodcut "Key Plate", (80 inches high by 96 inches wide, roughly 7 feet by 8 feet). I had just added the two side panels with the graphite drawing on them. Next, I will go over the graphite on the side panels with permanent marker. The background is then carved away from the permanent marker black lines, which creates the printing surface of the woodcut. I hope to make at least 5 edition prints. Each print will be "hand pulled". I suspect the paper will need to be pasted together, or stitched. I may have to "hand color" the colors involved. (I might not have enough time to make color plates). I am using a power router for the mass areas, as well as the traditional hand tools of chisels and knives. My Idea came from a small woodcut (3" x 4.75") that I made this last winter. So I began to redraw the scene onto the larger surface. I'm not even sure how I am going to display the large prints, but I intend to paint, and display the "key plate" with the colors intended for the final state of the print. I have all ways been drawn to a stand of Poplar trees since childhood. I guess it is the perspective of the towering trees I recall as a youngster that I would like to work with in my later years.
