A Sapsucker Start

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Lino/Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Black Lino/Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Yellow Lino/Woodcut Proof by Ken Januski.

After the complexity and time involved in the last combination linocut/woodcut I decided to make the next print much simpler. My intention was to do a one-color, one block, print much like photo two above. I also wanted to concentrate on a linear linocut, a classic way of doing linos and woodblocks but one I'm largely unfamiliar with.

BUT the tiny bit of red as well as the dirty yellow, almost an off-white, on the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker did present the temptation of just a bit of color. I also found that if I left the tree largely black then it took away from the Sapsuckers. In carving that area away though I found the print just a bit lacking. So that convinced me to add color, again on a woodblock  as in the last print.

The top photo is a proof on copier paper of the black printed on top of the first color. I like it. Unfortunately the color I ended up mixing got a bit oranger than I intended. So the bottom photo above shows the new color on good Hosho paper. This is the real print only without the black overprinted. And it's without any other changes. I'm debating printing a dark brown for the tree, then overprinting in black.

Even if I do this will be a much simpler print than the last one.

I and Jerene have come to very much enjoy Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers when we see them. I'm not sure exactly why. About a month ago I did some Conte sketches that tried to capture their movements as they fed on a tree. That's the basis for this print.