CARVING humanimal

Woodblock carving

anthropomorphism

noun

the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object.

ACTIVITY

You will be creating a collage that combines human and animal attributes as the source imagery for this woodblock. Artist Holly Gaboriault has excellent examples of ways in which this can be done, as well as our Artist Models of Rona Green and Gille & Marc as well as historical Artist JJ Grandville.

Begin by looking at the Artist models and identifying one to create your own work in the style of.

I recommend that you work on a couple of collages at the same time using a variety of animal heads on human bodies [different poses]

Once you have combined your pieces [use blue tack to start] Glue down each piece thoroughly. Some exemplar student work is shown below.

ARTIST MODEL - Gillie & Marc

Gillie and Marc have been painting together for over 25 years. The artists are best known for their beloved characters, Rabbitwoman and Dogman, who tell the autobiographical tale of two opposites coming together to become best friends and soul mates. As unlikely animal kingdom companions, the Rabbit and the Dog stand for diversity and acceptance through love. Gillie and Marc believe art is a powerful platform for change. Their art is multi-disciplinary, paying homage to the importance of togetherness, as well as the magnificence of the natural world, and the necessity of preserving it.

ARTIST MODEL - Rona Green

Australian artist Rona Green. Green’s practice is an exploration of identities: the ways we express them to the outside world and the sides of ourselves we want to keep hidden. Drawing her inspiration from comic books, Egyptian art, and fashion photography Green constructs her human/animals hybrids as unique individuals who can stand in for any viewer. Specifically, her interest is in how identity is expressed via the body; physical appearance and the ways it can be altered; the skin and its potential to be the stem point for transformation - how the body can be a vehicle for story by means of transformative devices, particularly anthropomorphism and body decoration. Through the fabrication of strange and unusual hybrid creatures she champions idiosyncrasy

ARTIST MODEL- J.J. Grandville

French artist J.J. Grandville (1803-1847) was an influential and prolific illustrator. Today remembered primarily for his political cartoons in pioneering publications such as La Caricature and for his somewhat fantastical illustrations of people and animals, Grandville created a body of work that served as inspiration for later Surrealist artists. Metamorphoses, a series of seventy scenes, satirizes the bourgeois middle class of Paris as comic combinations of animals and humans in the clothing and settings of the time. The anthropomorphic images and his political caricatures, rich with satirical humor, became wildly successful and widely mimicked.

Example Collages [or final works]

WOODBLOCK CARVING

Artist Model - Noosh

Chris Neuenschwander fell in love with printmaking during his time as a student at Kennesaw State University. With a goal to make people smile with his art, Chris focuses on designs that are full of happiness and joy. Bright colors, humorous characters, and whimsical imagery are hallmarks of Chris’s work.

While printmaking traditionally uses paper as a vehicle for the designs, Chris occasionally takes a different approach. By printing on t-shirts, Chris has pulled the art from the walls and has made it so that art can now be wearable for everyone to enjoy! If Chris can fit it through his press, he will print on it!

Rolling ink onto a block and squishing it onto paper or fabric isn’t his only mode of artistic transportation! Chris also uses his printmaking skills to create unique hand-carved and hand-painted pieces as well as his more traditional hand-pulled paper prints.

He can be found on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter @nooshstudios.

ACTIVITY:

You will use one of your humanimal collages as your design for your block.

Your collage should fill most of an A4 page if not you will need to photocopy it up larger [or smaller if A3]. Leave enough space for a 1cm border
Using tracing paper, turn your collage copy into a line drawing. You can add pattern and details in but no value/shading at this point.
Transfer this line drawing to the woodblock [carbon Paper] then use a permanent marker to go over lines – making some thick and some thinner and to fill in some black areas. Think about contrast, pattern repetition. When your drawing is complete you will start to carve away everything except the black lines.
Draw a 1/2 - 1 cm border around the edge and mark in black so you don't carve it
Use a thin V tool to cut on either side of the black lines and then u tools to remove all the areas within the line and background.

Things to consider when carving

1. - the direction of your carve marks - use curved marks to follow curved
  - mark-making techniques [refer to images] to make patterns, textures and contrast
  - Contrast between carved areas and solid areas

Carving the woodblock

painting the woodblock

once you have carved the block its time to start to paint your design

Consider your colour choices and try to keep the colours bright and fresh. Also, ensure that you use tints and shades of your hues to provide visual interest [refer to your artist models use of colour and paint]. You do not have to worry about painting over the raised areas - these will be "blacked" out anyway.
Paint your edges black.
when you have completed your painting you will roll a black printing ink over the raised areas to define the shapes, patterns and textures. You can carefully drill two holes in the top corners for hanging or glue a hanger to the back afterwards.

Page updated

Report abuse