Hello and Welcome Friends,

New England winters can feel like they go on and on sometimes. The days are short, often very cold and snow on the ground can last for months. But there is great beauty in this time of year. I find that I am most productive during this time of year. There is something about the cozy days, working many hours alone in the studio, which fuels me!

This print is inspired by an oil painting done I did in 2007 entitled "High Meadow Shadows."

"High Meadow Shadows" 2007, oil on canvas by William H. Hays

This is a complicated image to begin with when considering how to carve a linoleum block in order to construct the image. As with most of my prints, I began by establishing an overall mood or tone. Very little carving (which reveals the white of the paper) was done for the first impression. My choice of colors was something of an experiment this time around.

As you can see, there was some carving to allow spots of white here and there. These end up being incidental to the overall color but help to heighten the value contrasts in the final print. This was followed with two impressions, the first to add shadows and sky, then to add the dark colors. Atypically, I then added lighter colors on top of the darks. Here are the first six impressions:

"Short Days, Long Shadows" first six impressions

Each of these impressions involved the use of more than one color. For example, here is an image of my palette (and the carved block) for the fifth impression. Sometimes the complexity of the inking of a block can be an exercise in subtlety since they are laid overtop of the previous colors and influenced by them.

Although I was pleased with the progression and thought I would be finished after six impressions, I decided I need some additional darks. This is a problem with reduction printing because I have carved away almost the entire block and have nothing to work with. The solution to the problem is to carve a new block which will align with what I've done previously. So I drew out what I wanted to print and began carving for the final impression.

And once finished carving, I added the darkest color, a very dark red, and completed this linocut print:

"Short Days, Long Shadows", 9" x 12" linocut print by William H. Hays

So, once again I've completed another print which I enjoy sharing with you. I hope you enjoy it and look forward to hearing from you about this print. This print is now available from this website. Please do stay in touch. I always enjoy hearing from you!

Yours,

William H. Hays