The Storm is Coming

Woodcut by Antonio Frasconi. Emigrated from Uruguay, Frasconi is a master graphic and woodcut artist. He's one of my personal faves... I did a previous post (December 2008) with some of his Christmas and winter scenes.
"Coupled with technical virtuosity is a rich, meaningful content. Frasconi has taken the popular art of the woodcut and clothed it in visually exciting color. " (sorry there were only black and white photographs available!) (Jules Heller)

Scratchboard

Scratchboard is a lovely way to draw and it looks a lot like an etching or wood engraving but is much easier. It only requires the scratchboard and a few scratching knifes and tools. It is available on a panel or thick, rigid bristol board like paper. It's made by coating paper or board with a thin layer of clay and a layer of India ink on the surface. After scratching out the image, it can be colored or painted. Cool stuff!

Images from an enchanting children's book called The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson. Pictures by Beth Krommes. (Houghton Mifflin Co. 2008)

PS. I've been experiencing a family crisis which is why I haven't been posting on this blog much in the past few months... it's a bit time consuming to post because I do research things. Please bear with me. I love sharing art history with you all and have greatly enjoyed and appreciate your comments and visits. (I've no intention of shutting down Artslice.) Hopefully things will improve and I can get back on track.

V

V had been, in early roman Times, both vowel and consonant. Its vowel value was eventually supplanted by 'U' and 'W.' As a Roman numeral it stands for 5, variously explained as half of 'X' (10) or five fingers of the hand held in a 'V' shape. (Rose Folsum)

Lucien Pissarro

Femme au bois, 1891

Gardeuse d'Oies, 1923

Liseuse, 1891

from The Queen of the Fishes, 1894

Born in Paris in 1863, died in 1944 in Epping, England. Lucien Pissarro was the son of painter, Camille Pissarro. He grew up surrounded by his father's great artist friends: Gauguin, Seurat, Signac and Felix Feneon. As a young man Lucien was inspired by the work of Kate Greenaway; one can see the influence in his designs and illustrations of children's stories. In 1886 Lucien exhibited his paintings, drawings, and prints in the 8th and final Impressionist Exhibition, then turned almost exclusively to making prints. Soon after, he moved to England permanently.

Lucien arrived in London just as the Arts and Crafts movement was gaining momentum. William Morris had just established his Kelmscott Press. Lucien saw the opportunity to combine his love of book making and illustration and founded the Eragny Press. It ran for 20 years from 1894-1914 and published 32 titles (including works of Flaubert, Francis Bacon, Christina Rossetti and Keats) with more than 300 wood-engraved illustrations, borders, and fancy capitals. The press closed when WWI broke out but its legacy is a beautiful combination of the French Impressionistic interest in color and light and the English aesthetic of Arts and Crafts design. (Lora Urbanelli)

**from The Book Art of Lucien Pissarro by Lora Urbanelli, 1997. Published by Moyer Bell.