The red, orange and black are sharpie markers that I use to help define areas of the drawing on the block. The white is a powdered chalk I use to help me see areas that I have engraved – otherwise the engraved marks are too small and lack the proper contrast to see what I’m doing well.

More progress engraving textures and defining form – and my thumb for scale.

Here is the block and printed proof – the aim of this work. This block is now safely delivered to Larkspur Press and will be printed soon – after Wendell Berry’s approval!

The surface of this block was stained with black printers ink and then the drawing was transfer using carbon paper. I then reinforced the drawing with micron pens (black) and add the brightest whites with a white colored pencil. the tan marks in the sky portion of the image are the raw end grain wood that my tools have exposed. The yellow squiggles seen in the lower portion of the image are remnants of the carbon paper used to transfer the image.

I have added chalk dust to the lines to help my eye see the marks and to better see the graphic contrast that will be in the final print.

The block sits on two very firm leather pillows of sand – this helps to bring the block closer to my eyes, thus saving my neck and back as well as allowing me to spin the block while I make marks with my trusty burins.

The last stage of development (before I get ready to print the edition) involves a lot of proofing and engraving and proofing and engraving, etc. I printed the block first, made some adjustments by engraving more here and there, and then printed it again to see how it looked. I did this about 9-10 times before I was pleased with the image.