Mark Hewatt

Tag: heavyweight

  • A Hand Grinder in Five Passes

    A Hand Grinder in Five Passes

    Continuing the ongoing “Coffee” series, this piece shifts focus to an antique-style hand coffee grinder. Following the earlier studies, this was executed as a 5-color reduction print, peeling away layers of the design sequentially from the same block.

    Reduction printing always brings a healthy dose of discipline to the studio table. Because the block is progressively destroyed with each color pass, there is no backtracking—every cut has to be planned around the sequence of values. The print balances warm ochre and chestnut wood tones for the box, bold red accents on the drawer knob and crank handle, a solid black structural outline for the cast hopper and arm, and a cool, muted mint background.

    Technically, this was carved into a Speedball Speedy-Carve block and printed on Strathmore heavyweight printmaking paper using Speedball water-based inks. The pink rubber block cuts smoothly, allowing for fluid curved lines on the crank and hopper while still holding crisp architectural edges on the box. The water-based ink lays down with a velvety, slightly broken texture on the heavy paper, giving the final pull an honest, hand-crafted feel.

  • Quiet Boundary

    Quiet Boundary

    This graphite piece builds on my continued exploration of solitude, memory, and quiet intervals in rural spaces. The composition follows a rhythmic line of rolled hay bales resting along a fence row beneath bare, sprawling trees. Perched atop one of the bales sits the subtle impression of a solitary figure, gazing out over the pasture in a private moment of pause.

    Graphite lends itself naturally to this kind of atmospheric work, allowing me to build a hazy, soft-focus impression where subtle marks and soft shading do the storytelling rather than rigid, hard lines.

    Technically, the drawing was completed on Strathmore heavyweight paper using Mitsubishi graphite pencils. The paper’s substantial tooth provides an ideal textured ground for dry media, catching the graphite to create a natural, grainy softness across the background and grass while allowing the darker Mitsubishi lead to lay down dense, rich contrast in the swirling texture of the bales and the tree branches.

  • Solitary Traverse

    Solitary Traverse

    This graphite drawing steps back into a quiet, atmospheric space, continuing my exploration of solitude, loss, and the unknown. At first glance, the composition presents a familiar rural vista: a weathered fence line tracing the curve of a hill, distant hay bales resting in the pasture, and a small cluster of bare trees leaning against the sky.

    Looking closer between the trunks reveals a faint, subtly shaded figure walking along the boundary. That quiet presence shifts the entire mood of the scene, turning a simple field study into a contemplative moment of transition. Is it a wanderer passing through, or an echo tied to these quiet acres? Leaving that narrative open allows the viewer to project their own sense of memory and stillness into the frame.

    Technically, the piece was completed on Strathmore heavyweight mixed media paper using Winsor & Newton medium graphite pencils. The pencils were a blind buy, but their soft, creamy graphite application laid down rich, dark values on the textured surface. The natural tooth of the heavyweight paper grabs the medium cleanly, creating a soft, stippled grain in the grass and sky while letting the darker graphite build dense, tactile fissures along the tree bark.

  • Bound Sentry

    Bound Sentry

    This piece continues my exploration of folklore and the eerie quiet of deep woodland spaces. The composition centers on a massive, ancient tree whose trunk and sprawling root system dominate the foreground, breaking the forest floor like petrified muscle.

    Flanking the base of the roots are two hooded figures cloaked in deep ochre, standing motionless before the hollows of the trunk. High in the branches, the crimson ribbon appears once again, bound around the limbs—a subtle, recurring marker that weaves through this series, hinting at an unseen presence or a quiet rite known only to those who wander these woods.

    Technically, this was completed on Strathmore heavyweight mixed media paper using Faber-Castell Pitt pens and Staedtler fine liners, with subtle pointillism applied via acrylic pens. I used the fine liners to construct the heavy, modular texture of the bark, mapping out dense, individual fissures across the trunk. Pitt pen washes established the cool blue-gray tones of the wood and the glowing yellow light filtering through the background trees. To bring extra vibration to the canopy and ground plane, I layered fine acrylic dots over the ink work, giving the ambient light an electric, atmospheric tooth.

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