Artist: Rob Chipman
Title: Green River Overlook at Canyonlands N.P.
Medium: Reduction block print
Unframed Dimensions: 16 x 13 inches
Framed Dimensions: 18 x 21 inches
Price: $775
Artist Statement: Green River Overlook in Canyonlands NP is the fourth in my series of Utah National Parks. This view of Canyonlands posed a big challenge. In order to depict the vastness of the landscape, I had to use multiple colors to create the impression of distance. In other words, the colors in the foreground needed to be warmer and brighter than those in the background. Rather than applying separate colors on separate layers, the colors were mixed on the roller, creating a gradient effect. I also experimented with going from dark to light, rather than light to dark, which is my usual approach. Both methods have their own limitations, but I felt like going dark to light (with the exception of the sky and distant mountains) would create the texture I was seeking. Toward the end, I realized I was missing an important color. Gratefully, I realized this before I had carved away the sections that needed that color so I could still apply that layer (whew!). The other challenging thing about reduction block prints is that it's very difficult to tell if the color hues and shades you apply on a layer are correct until later layers are and you can see them in the context of the surrounding colors. Thankfully, these seemed to work out okay (I've had to scrap previous prints a few times because one color wasn't correct.). At best, it's a series of educated guesses and crossed fingers. This print required 25 colors on 12 layers.
