Show and Tell: As Big as a Mountain

“Trolls are gigantic, and repulsive to look at. Most often they are clad in skins. Their noses are long and crooked, and their eyes are as big as pools of water. When a troll walks on solid ground, it looks as if it is wading in a mire. It treads so heavily that it sinks down, sometimes all the way up to its knees.”

~ Phantoms and Fairies from Norwegian Folklore by Tor Age Bringsvaerd

This is another screen print from my folklore inspired artwork I call “Hidden Folk.” The sketch for this one was actually the very beginning of my love affair with using folk tales, faerie stories, and mythology in my artwork. I did this print during the same printmaking class as A Tonal Wizard. Both pieces were inspired by reading stories in a book, Phantoms and Fairies from Norwegian Folklore by Tor Age Bringsvaerd. (I tried to contact the author through Facebook to share about my work, but no response yet.)

Initial sketch of the troll and the same with colours for project plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Big as a Mountain shows how I imagine a troll would look. By the time I finished the project, I was really quite fond of him (in spite of all the horrid stories)!

Here are photos I took during the printing. I used light translucent inks and built up several layers to create subtle shading. In total, I believe there were 14 layers.

 

Most of the layers were done with freezer paper stencils. The final outlining was with a photo emulsion process. I also gave a clear coat over the whole image to even out the surface.

Many of my projects have the image crossing the 'standard' boundaries and spilling into the margins. I like doing this!

 

 

 

The finished print is 12”x 17” on 18”x 24” Arches Rives BFK paper and was an edition of 8. 

A signed, numbered, and matted print is available in my Etsy shop.

 

 

 

 

 

I was very proud to have my print accepted into the juried Oregon Arts Annual Exhibit at the 2011 Oregon State Fair.