I decided to enter a woodblock recreation of an image from a 1568 Danse Macabre into East Kingdom King’s and Queen’s Arts and Science Champions. I was super pleased with the results, and I enjoyed the process. I was able to get the pear wood planed to type height, so I was able to print the block in my printing press. Largely to save ink, I disconnected the rollers and inked the block myself each time.
I got really great reception for the project and a lot of great comments. At this point, I have a pretty substantial library on woodblock printing, so I was able to answer a lot of questions in details from things I have read.
Here is the original image (on the left) and a photograph of my print (on the right). I used hot press Arches 100% rag paper, and it came out very well.
The original image on the left and my recreation is on the right
Here is a photo of the block in the printing press.
The woodblock in the printing press
Since we needed to enter into 3 different categories for the competition, I also did a food entry. I attempted to recreate an image from Gaston Phoebus’ Book of the Hunt. The image is of a picnic during a hunt. I made stuffed chicken (chicken stuffed with boiled egg yolks, parsley, and spices), a cheese pie, gingerbread, and sourdough bread. I redacted all of the recipes, apart from the bread, myself. I have never made bread on my own before without a breadmaker, and I have never used sourdough for anything. It was so exciting for me that I did it, and that it came out. I wasn’t sure if it was going to rise properly or not. I may do a food entry again, especially for something like Artisan’s challenge, but probably not for a big competition.
The picnic I am trying to recreate and the food I made to do it
I had a great time, got to meet lots of great people, and see some amazing artwork. I have already started collecting information for my next project.