…Two days with Angie Lewin (continued).

Day One

To read more about day one of Angie Lewin’s wood engraving workshop at the Hepworth Gallery, please go back to my first post.

The first day of the two-day workshop finished with the class moving on from their practice pieces to making the first hesitant marks on the previously pristine blocks of lemonwood.  Angie was fantastic at answering questions and repeatedly explaining how to angle and control the engraving tools to everyone individually.  By the end of the afternoon I had made a proof print of my half-finished wren design and from the crude linocutty-like marks of the branch t the more delicate feathers it was clear to see that I was getting more comfortable with the tools and more used to how they interacted with the wood.

My wood block by the end of day one.

My half-finished wren design with the rings of the wood showing through the print.

Day Two

I began the second day with unexpectedly aching upper arms, shoulders and hands from gripping the tools too hard and holding myself tense for a whole afternoon as I braced myself to make each cut in the wood block.  Learning my lesson from hours spent hunched over my block, I took more breaks and possibly spent as much time drinking tea, re-visiting the exhibition and wandering around the Hepworth Gallery gift shop as I did continuing with my design.

My wren – the finished print

I soon finished the wren and, despite Angie’s encouragement to add in some background detail, I decided to leave it as it was, quite liking the light wren against a completely dark background and not wanting to ruin the work I’d already done .  I still plan to work further on the design, maybe experimenting with some secondary lino-cuts before committing to any permanent changes.

Catherine’s print came along famously, where I get too bogged down in detail, Catherine has a much more free-style approach that usually results in lovely bold striking designs.  The progression of her wood block piece was no different:

Catherine’s working design

Catherine’s block in progress

Catherine’s proof prints

Catherine’s finished print resplendent with a pop of colour

My second practice piece

Determined to come away with a piece that drew inspiration from Angie’s own work and to try and be a bit more spontaneous design-wise, I decided to turn to attempt a second practice piece in the afternoon.  Angie had provided those of us who had finished our main piece with some layered plastic that could be carved and printed in a similar fashion to the wood blocks.  I found the surface harder to use as it was more slippery and I found myself more prone to making mistakes, but I was pleased with the end result.

Creating a repeating pattern from my second practice piece.

Angie suggested that we experiment by using our designs to make repeating patterns, something she frequently does herself to tremendous effect in her St. Jude’s fabrics.  The following day, back at home I did just that, photocopying my print and arranging the tiles into a repeating pattern, it looked really good!

So, what’s next?  Well, I now need to revisit my Jenny Wren design and see if I can come up with something dramatic for the background, she seems to be drifting in space a little bit as she is, and I intend to try and work on the repeating pattern of the second practice piece a bit more, neatening it up and trying out different colours to maybe turn it into a fabric design.  I’ll of course be posting updates as I progress.

I really enjoyed the workshop, Angie was lovely and both her work and her guidance were a real inspiration and I came away with plenty to think about and work with – not to mention a hankering to buy yet more art equipment in the form of some wood engraving tools and blocks.  See below for more pictures of a very successful weekend.

From these basic materials…

A classmate’s work

A classmate’s working block

Catherine’s finished print resplendent with a pop of colour

My second practice piece

A classmate’s practice block and print

A classmate’s work

My practice piece print

A classmate’s practice print

My wren – the finished print

A classmate’s print