Barnabas Collins Woodcut Portrait

Officially my first and last entry into a DA contest. Spent 36 hours over three days cutting this and didn't even get a sniff. I knew DA was a haven for digital artwork, but to see 9 out of 10 semi-finalists are digital works is just ridiculous. There were so many traditional pieces that I thought were more deserving, but apparently one must do their artwork with a virtual brush to win an online contest.

My entry to the Dark Shadows Portrait Contest.

I decided to go with a traditional woodcut using very stark black and white contrast and to submit the actual woodblock rather than a print pulled from the block. I also wanted to make Barnabas look a little bit more dignified and imposing, so I changed the facial expression and eyes just a little bit. I would like to think that this would look really good over the mantel at the mansion.

The woodcut is done on AC plywood and I used a variety of tools ranging from traditional Flexcut gouges to a Dremel with several engraving bits of various sizes. the yellow tone is the actual wood tone from the plywood, and the background and black of the face is Golden Acrylic in Carbon Black with an underlayer of Amsterdam Acrylic Red.

Overall Size of the completed woodblock is 24 inches by 36 inches.