Lucas Adams Cowan
Select Works
Double Octopus (2024)
I Believe in Common (2024)
Black Horse I (2026)
Process
The block pictured here measures 2×3” and was cut with extremely sharp engraving knives, which differ from woodcut tools primarily in their shape. Instead of having a gouge shape, they are knifelike and very narrow. Before the block is inked, the underdrawing is visible— this drawing was transferred by way of solvent and printer ink, then reinforced by hand. Once the block was fully cut, it was printed and further details were cut before the edition was printed.
Portrait of a Dead Crow is a copper-plate etching. The image is produced by scratching an image into a copper plate and printing intaglio— wiping ink off of the plate so that only the recessed etched lines fill with ink and transfer to the page. Pictured here is the monotype sketch that was produced before the etching. A monotype print is produced by painting ink directly onto the plate. This left an impression, which served as an underdrawing for the true etching process. The first proofs were etched drypoint, meaning that all of the lines visible were scratched directly onto the plate. Later proofs were made with acid etching. A layer of wax was painted over the plate, and lines were scratched into the wax. Then, the plate was submerged in an acid that erodes the copper where it has been exposed from the wax, creating recessed lines. The wax was removed, and the plate could be printed. This process is repeated until the image is complete.
A reduction woodcut must be printed as many times as it has layers. Fallen Ginkgo Leaves is a five-layer color reduction. First, the white highlights were cut from the block, and a layer of very pale yellow was printed. Then, the block and prints were allowed to dry before more of the wood was carved away, and the printing process could be repeated with a shade of green. The last layer was a deep purple shadow. Pictured is the press the block was printed on. It is a Vandercook letterpress machine, which is designed to produce perfect registration (alignment) across copies. This allowed each layer of the print to be exactly on top of the previous layer to preserve the details in the image.
Time lapse of the printing process of one of the five layers of the color reduction print Fallen Ginkgo Leaves.
Up-close view of the printing process on a Vandercook letterpress machine.