When I went to the woodworking store the the other day I got distracted by all the cool wood carving tools and books they had. I have always wanted to try to carve something in the round. I ended up buying a block of basswood as an impulse item in addition to my new tool. Why not, the wood was only $4. So yesterday I was supposed to be printing up a storm but instead I got sucked into gouging and hacking away at this chunk of wood. It really is quite addictive and shares a lot in common with cutting a wood block for print in terms of the rhythm and mindset that you end up in. Here is state 0 and state 1. Ill post as it progresses, but first I need to refocus on the motorcycle print.
As for the question of “What should I do do with the background of this print?” I think the answer is not to come in after the block is cut and contrive a background, but to plan better when I start the next one. At most, I’ll print a flat behind the main image. I’ve been looking at a lot of imagery lately with this problem in mind and now Im ready to start trying some of this stuff. Hopefully Ill have motorcycle prints to post this week.