The final element of my ongoing linocut project is now complete. For many reasons, it was the trickiest image to realise; that of the Shepherd. Not only did I have to attempt to depict Our Lord; I had to draw a sheep and a lamb. I copied a suitable lamb from the internet but struggled with the sheep, until I remembered a photo I took several years ago in Kerry:
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| from Valentia to the Skelligs © Teresa Newham 2012 |
So my favourite sheep made it into the image; and, having discarded as a cop-out the idea of denoting the presence of the Shepherd by a hand, or a foot, I did what so many artists do, and plagiarised something else - in this case, the Paternoster statue by Dame Elisabeth Frink.
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| tracing the image © Teresa Newham 2012 |
As you can see from the above photo, I changed my mind about the design halfway through, deciding to omit an unnecessary horizon and swap some of the black and white elements around. Plus it was vital not to repeat the mistake I made with the previous image in this project - it had to come out the right way round. So I was understandably nervous by the time I took the first print:
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| first print of The Shepherd © Teresa Newham 2012 |
The half-dozen prints I made of this image required a bit of touching up; but are none the worse for that. The next step will be to display all four images together . . . !
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| linocut prints: The Shepherd © Teresa Newham 2012 |
I do love the linocuts, especially the religious images; I think this is one of the best - good to see the famous Valentia sheep getting another outing!
ReplyDeleteThis themed project has been fun to watch. I do like how this print looked in the end. There are times I get nervous too when I am thinking of the white and darks of the design. And I think you were "inspired" by Dame Elisabeth Frink. :)
ReplyDeletethanks LM! I've enjoyed doing it, and once I've mounted the four prints I'll probably explain a bit more about the thinking behind it. The Paternoster statue in Paternoster Square is a favourite of mine, although I wasn't able to get near it while the protests were going on outside St Paul's. I shall have to visit it again soon!
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