THE ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR
(first photo) “Alpine Titans” started as a watercolor sketch from one of my alpine hikes. The beauty of an outdoor sketch is the simplicity of design. Time and environment restrict one into sketching the essence of the scene, avoiding the slippery slope of rendering details.
These sketches usually sit around the studio for a while until I can see them with fresh eyes and not the original preconceived concept that I had when creating the sketch.
Three Blocks, Three Colors
(second photo) The most striking part of the image for me are the colors in the sky and trunks. Traditionally, the reduction process uses one block to print multiple colors. For this image, I decided to use three blocks, blue, ochre and green.
The image was transferred onto each of the blocks and the base color area for each block was shaded in with pencil, denoting the areas to remain in relief.
Once the blocks were carved, a simple solid cool and warm color was printed which established the basic design and tonal arrangement for the composition.
The Green Block
A warm green was printed over the boughs of the tree and the shadows. Eventually, a second darker green was print after carving out some highlights.
The Blue Block
The first color run of the blue established the base blue tone for the sky as a flat tone from top to bottom. The goal was to have the sky darken towards the top. After printing the first pale blue, I carved away the shadow in the cloud and a few high-lights in the tress.
I then added more pigment to previous ink mix to get the deep blue at the top of the sky.
When inking, I applied the pigment full strength to the top of the block and diluted it with water towards the bottom creating a nice gradation effect
The Ochre/Red Block
A light ochre was printed over the tree and foreground and then carved a second time, removing color on the boughs of the pines. This is where the process gets it’s name. The block is carved away, or reduced, between color runs. The block is reduced between printings to the point that only the accents remain at the end.
The Blue Block, A Fourth Printing
The blue block was carved once again, this time removing all of the sky area, leaving only the shadows on the trees to print. Care was taken to carefully define the edges of the boughs. Also, ridges created carving out the background were flattened to prevent them from inadvertently printing and creating unwanted lines in the blue sky.
A final carve left select areas in relief to print the dark accents.
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