dover

I didn't sketch too much on paper before I continued onto the woodblock.
I wanted to not get too fixated on how the shapes looked like and the landscape laid out in real life, but rather how these elements related to each other on the woodblock
– I wanted to treat the woodblock as a sketchbook.
Surely, some shapes needed to be determined.
The white cliffs in that case are the most constant element in this context.
The land, the sea and the beach can erode and evolve,
but what is a cliff? Steady.

One of the things I like about the material I work with is when I discover texture that's already there – created by nature. Woodblocks have grains, even a chip here and there, and so had this one. A grain naturally stretched out in the wood structure and made the perfect plateau for the cliffs. In this way, the wood lent its structure to build the cliff, and the cliff lent its strength for the plateau to rest on top of.

In a simple plywood block, four elements united
– wood, earth, water and air.

I inked up the woodblock, printed it onto Japanese paper, inked it up again, in a different area, a different corner, added here, printed, added there, printed, and then repeat.

I really enjoyed this way of working and felt like I was revisiting Dover. This way, hopefully – I'll also be able to bring someone to Dover, by bringing Dover to them.