Sharpe in The Kitchen

Sylvester, woodcut print, #1 of 10.

The kids were watching  Titanic.  Their parents and honey were napping. I was hanging in the kitchen waiting for the breakfast dishes to go through the dry cycle so I could get on with the lunch dishes. There were ladders blocking us in and guys up on the roof replacing rotted boards on the chimney. I figured I might as well draw. I decided I wanted to draw with something clean. The only pen  I could find was a Sharpe Fine Point.    The reference photo  by Kathleen Whittaker, Art Director for Tauck  World Discovery Tours was still on the table.  I thought I'd take another pass at it. The drawing came out looking like a woodcut. It would make a very nice one, but not by me.

The only woodcut I ever made was a portrait of Sylvester Stallone in 1976.  I used a white oak block.  It was pretty good for a first try. I was going to send it to him, but never did. I still could, but won't. Too complicated.  And I never made another woodcut either. Carving  the plate made my thumbs ache (even though white oak is a relatively soft wood) and that made me think I was flirting with arthritis. Arthritis in my hands was to be avoided at all cost. So far, so good.