The Narwhal part 2

Had a little time this afternoon and decided to go up to the Studio and advance the Narwhal project a bit.  I wasn't quite satisfied with my initial pencil drawing, so the first task was to make some adjustments to the shape of the whale, particularly near the head and tail.  For many years now I have been a proponent of using ink wash in the block drawings, especially for figures.  This comes from my love of charcoal (especially compressed) and when I use it, I tend to go dark and heavy.  Probably related to my interest in woodcut and the strong contrasts found in block printing. I had a supply of black drawing ink, plastic cups, etc, from the days I taught drawing, and after a search, I finally found it last night.  No human figure this time around, but the simple value breakdown in my paper sketch caused me to realize that process would work again here.  So with a brush I put in some straight black ink on some deep shadows and to outline everything, a middle value wash near the mid line of the whale, some light wash in the water around it, and left some untouched wood as highlights.  I ended up repositioning the horn a little more forward, more consistent with my paper sketch, as well as with reality.  (the "horn" is not a horn, but actually a tooth or a tusk, from one of the canines in the mouth of the narwhal, poking through the lip) The ink is just a value guide, since all this will be cut away in the final version, but now I have a better idea what I'm doing.

Stopped by the office briefly to update Nichole on some things she asked me to discuss with Molly, related to programming and the website.  At that moment Bobby Duncan walked past and mentioned that a woman, probably a dance mom, had asked him if the guy who does woodcuts would be teaching any classes in it because she would like to know more.  He said he told her where my Studio was, but I haven't heard anything yet.  Meanwhile, it can't hurt for the person who is running the building to hear that there may be some demand for a woodcut class, especially because we are trying to set up such a class for this summer.  I'm one of the few people in New Jersey who teaches it, and the fans often find me.