Kernville VI

This was the final piece I created for my 2023 ‘Kernville’ commission, which was ultimately not selected for purchased.

With my larger pieces, like this one, to get a real sense of 'place' the key for me is layering, layering, layering……& more layering! this was particularly useful in rendering the stillness of the mountains, and the trees, shrouded in mist on the edge of Lake Isabella. Technically, this involves using quite a bit of masking. However, when I'm not masking off areas, the key for placing any given print in the right place is to register its ideal position on the reverse of the gelliplate using a sharpie before working on the plate + printing.

With the foreground here I also used a lithograph/autographic ink for a separate, drawing element. This enables a contrast to the other two picture planes, to give a nice earthy feel to the land, and [as it’s a particularly sticky/oily ink] it separates from any acrylics that come into contact with it, making it stand out somewhat. The final details of wispy brances were brought out using an ultra-fine pen.