Postcard 10: Not a man

I didn't notice this was going to happen until yesterday. I started on Day 1, and have pretty much had my head down working on these in album order. So. Not a Man arrives on the anniversary of Danielle Miller's death. Death was always going to wear a frock in this one. But, in honour of Dani, it's a PROPER FROCK.

I certainly feel I've learnt a lot doing this challenge. And gained in confidence. Putting yourself out there is the life lesson I've learned from Dani. So here I am, doing things I wouldn't have imagined a year ago.

This is the verse to accompany it:

Width of hip and weight of jaw.

Bones to pick to prove your law.

My mysteries are beyond mere science’ play,

So this box I’ll tick, “I prefer not to say.”

Here's the block and proofs. Once I'd got the basics down, it all just flowed. I only added 3 or 4 mrks to finish.

And printed off.

Postcard 9: Medusa (Part 2)

And finished. Only subtly different from the version in Part 1. Think I'm right to leave out drapery and stuff.

The verse that goes with this one is:

The mobs that jeer and spit your name.

None survive their bile and blame.

Take heart as I take you to your rest,

No-one escapes my final test.

Some dainty features in this one which made it a challenge to achieve. And having a suitably sad-looking Death.

Postcard 9: Medusa (Part 1)

A few days ago, whenever it was, when I was working on the background for "Restart from Zero", I wrote alongside some of the sketches I was making, "Medusa. Death as Pieta." That was to remind me of tthe image thatt had just come into my head of Michelangelo's famous sculpture with Death taking Mary's place and Medusa from Cellini's Perseus in the place of Christ. I enlisted these guys to help me cobble the picture together.

Because Cellini's Medusa is quite twisted on the shield and cushion arrangement, I needed a more relaxed lower body for this pose. This is where I've got so far. The upper body and arm is based on Cellini.

I was going to have drapery over whatever it is Death is sitting on, but I'm inclined to leave everything black. But I'm working out how to do a suggestion of blood dripping from the neck into a pool on the floor.

Postcard 8: Night

Done before brekfast!

Sometimes you have a picture so clear in your head, you just execute it. I did the drawings for the head and skull last night. The hand I drew while waiting in the car the day before.

Here are the proofs:

It all came ot pretty much as I wanted, so there was virtually no tweaking of the cuts either. All done before 9am. Tomorrow's is going to be hard, though and I've done no drawings yet. So I need the time.

Postcard 7: Lobotomy

This one has been a bit troublesome. The first version I started  yesterday went a bit wrong. I was a bit too tired to do anything about it due to the sweltering heat, so I started again today.

Here's the verse:

The system rules the lives within,

Decides what's good or bad. Fit in

By removing thought and feeling both.

Brain dead, by my technocratic oath.

The lab coat was my wife's idea. All the bones would have made things far too confusing otherwise. This picture shows progress through some proofs.

And another 12 postcards done

Postcard 6: Another dream

Made an early start today, so got this finished before the heat in my little print room got too high.

Sometimes the idea for a print just comes and doesn't require much work to get it into its final form. Here's the drawing I traced from. That's pretty much it for workings out. ! was going to have the odd little reflection on places like the cheekbone, orbital bome and shoulder blade, but decided against it having done the profile.

I don't think I've posted one of these before, so heres the block, inked with India Ink and sumi-e brush. I'm just beginning cutting death's outline

Here are various proofs.

And the requisite dozen postcards printed off.

Postcard 5: Restart from Zero

Just the one post today. So here's the finished print.

The song is about environmental disaster, the end of the world, really. And starting again from scratch. So here's the verse.

Burning forests, islands sunk,

Critters crawl in piles of junk.

"Stop," you say now, "all is lost."

So start again, but count the cost.

I like the horrible ambiguity of this image. Which one is Death here for? I had various ideas for this one, but all the others were a bit messy. This changed from my original idea, but here's the first sketch I did of this one. Pretty close to the final version, really. And a note at the side so I know roughly what forceps look like.

And this is the version I worked up to trace on to the block.

And drawings of the various other elements.

And twelve copies printed off.