5th Yr Woodcuts

The 5th Years recently completed woodcuts based on street scenes from around Drogheda. The prints had to be influenced by German Expressionist woodcuts and include some of their stylistic qualities. Expressionism is a term that describes art that uses distortions and exaggerations in shape and/or colour to express the artist’s emotion. The German Expressionists distorted images in quite a primitive manner. They exaggerated angles and carved crooked lines, giving an impression that they hacked away at the wood at a frenzied pace, adding to its intensity and expressive quality.

German Expressionist Woodcut

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Elisabeth-Ufer (Berlin), 1912
Woodcut

The Process

  The students started by creating drawings from photographs of various streets in Drogheda. They worked over their drawing using markers to block in areas of tone using pattern and line to create their expressionistic design for the woodcut. Once they were happy with the design they transferred it on to the wood block using carbon paper and cut the design out using lino-cutting tools.

Clockwise from above left: photographic source,

drawing, woodcut design, final print

all by Clare Fagan

Design by Christina Lynch

        Finished Print                                                                                         Finished Print

Finished Prints by Josephine Byrne

Finished Prints by Aoife Sharkey