Final Piece
Story
After baby Arthur was born, Merlin secretly took him to be raised at the castle of Sir Ector, a loyal ally of the King’s. There, the young prince was raised as the bastard child of Sir Ector’s, and no one, not even Ector himself, knew the boy’s true identity. But Ector also had a son, named Sir Kay. And because young Arthur was thought to be a bastard child, Sir Kay and his friends teased and taunted him, and his adopted parents looked down on him. The poor boy grew up in shame of his birth, never knowing of his royal lineage.
Meanwhile, all was not well with the King. Just months after giving away his only son, Uther Pendragon turned ill, and died shortly after. With no heir to lead the kingdom, the country fell into despair. Rival dukes and lords disputed over who was the best fit to rule England.
In the midst of the turmoil, the nobles called on Merlin to find a solution. Having seen to it that baby Arthur was safe, he erected a large stone, on top of which sat an anvil, in a churchyard in Westminster, a region of London. Stuck in the anvil was a sword. An inscription on its blade read:
“Whoso pulleth out this sword from this stone, is right wise King born of all England.”
The sword was magic, Merlin explained, and only he who was fit to rule England could pull it from the stone. Nobles from far and wide came to try and pull the sword from the stone, but not even the strongest of men could accomplish the task. Eventually, the sword became forgotten, and England fell into greater ruin.
As the boy Arthur grew older, Merlin introduced himself to him. Merlin and the boy would meet after he had finished his chores for Sir Ector, and the two of them became close friends. Merlin tutored the boy in many subjects, always teaching him that knowledge was greater than brute force. For, although Arthur was a small, scrawny lad scarcely capable of lifting a sword from its sheath, Merlin saw in him the potential to be a wise and just ruler who would unite Britain, and rescue her from the chaos into which she had fallen. And so, through education and experience, the wizard helped the young prince to realize his full potential: a potential of greatness. The potential to rule with justice and compassion what would become the greatest kingdom ever known.
One day, when Arthur was fifteen, Merlin brought him before the Sword in the Stone. A crowd had been assembled, and was waiting anxiously. Arthur’s stepbrother, Sir Kay, was the first to try and pull the sword, but it would not budge. Then Arthur tried. The sword came loose. The crowd cheered, and Arthur was crowned King of England.
http://www.heroofcamelot.com/legend/sword-in-the-stone
Process
Trying out the different textures on a lino pad
It was not easy trying to create textures on lino especially the crisscross and the waves which I sort of failed to create the wavy feels. The short strokes and dotted lines were also difficult to make at first but after getting using the the tools, it became easier and more consistent.
The hardest part of lino cutting is controlling when to stop the stroke as seen from the inconsistent short strokes above.
Lino cutting can be quite dangerous as we can easily cut our hands if not careful.
Planning for the two frames
To start off, I feel that I should plan the black and white part of the lino as it may get confusing later on without a plan. Therefore, I wrote down the black and white portions with “white” being the portion to be carved. Also, because there will be different elements being black, I feel that I should use textures to differentiate the different elements. I noted that down on the planning.
In Frame 1, the main texture will be the robe and the rock. I wanted to create the cloth texture on the robe by creating the folds created by the movements and the body. For the rock, I wanted it to have a raw feeling.
In Frame 2, there are a lot of textures on the armor of King Arthur. The armor is divided into 3 parts: the cape, the chained armor and the shiny armor. I used crisscross pattern to show the chains on the chained armor and differentiate it from the shiny armor since both will be “white” on the print.
It will be quite confusing without this planning because Frame 2 has too many elements and it is difficult to differentiate the black and white just by looking at it.
Transferring the sketches onto lino pad
I transferred the sketches onto the lino pad in a inverted manner because lino, when printed, will be inverted.
Progression & test printing
Techniques used:
- Black and white balance (left is white and right is black)
- Textures: robe, stone
- Suggestion of movement (hand pulling out the sword)
I started off with the outline and some raw and random strokes for the stone. I quite like the black and white in the hair.
Then, I put in the details.
Lastly, I improved the frame by adding in more folds because I feel that it is too plain and does not show the cloth material.
Techniques used:
- Geometrical symmetry
- Centralization of object to bring in focus
- Textures: background, floor, armor
Similar to Frame 1, I did the general outline by carving out the major “white” portions.
Then I added in the details for the king’s armor. I like the rawness of the sword and also the texture on the armor.
I carved out the background as of my plan and regretted afterwards because I feel that it will look weird. But after printing in onto paper, it looks okay and create a texture for the background. Also, I use big and short strokes to create the texture of the stone-tiled palace floor.
Date: 17 October 2016
