I've been working on this print alongside the 'The Bluebell Cuckoo' (see my last entry). I've not documented it very much, I've been very busy with two prints on the go and this one was taking longer with 6 rather than 5 layers.
The print image 26x38 (exactly the same as the cuckoo) on 300gsm acid free paper. Dry and editioned today and I've just put 4 of them into my Etsy shop. It's an edition of 25, not a great variation in the prints but I still add the V.E.(varied edition) after the edition number.
The design has come from an evening walk in the autumn, as the nights start to draw in. I'm not sure where the tawny owl roosts in the valley on the way up the mountain nearby but this one was out early before the sun had set. The Brecon Beacons is an international dark sky area, great for seeing the stars on a crisp evening. I've used them in arcs to emphasise the movement of the owl and its wings. The crows are just going 'off shift', so are too busy to mob the owl as they often do. Can you spot the small mammal in the print?
This is one of those prints that I've used a painting either as a starting point or as an element within the painting. I definitely don't think there's anything wrong with reusing an image or idea, especially if it changed by using a different process.
Here is the design for the owl print alongside an oil painting I made a couple of years ago, 'The trees on the track to the old quarry'
Even though I've seen the owl further down into the valley, I though this place was the perfect setting. A wild exposed place but one that was once busy and industrial.
The cuckoo print I just finished is also closely associated with a more recent painting of mine. 'The Bluebell cuckoo' and a detail from a watercolour, pen and pencil composition, 'Fallen trees in bluebell wood'.
Here's a more direct use of a painted image that I reused as a linocut. This painting is from a while ago and was in acrylic on a wooden panel. Both are titled 'Winter Pinecone'
There are more small elements that crop up as reoccurring themes and images. The twisted trees from the hillsides and the naked hedgerows for example.
I'm straight on to the next print! A busy time.
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