Spotted Wolf the Wanderer

Chinese Ink and carving on wood
25x20cm / 10x8"
2024
 
The Spotted Wolf is a spy sent by the other G4 countries (Contradictoria, Dreamland, The Aristocratic Union and The Republic of Strata) to spy on Northlandia, and also to find a secret passageway to access the country’s resources. 
 
In my previous study, he’s a hyena. Last night when I was thinking about the piece, it dawned on me that he should be a wolf with spotted pattern. When I was actually working on the piece, the spots became eyes—fitting his spy identity. 
 
The composition is a tribute to the famous romantic painting “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich. The painting has all quintessential romantic elements: the lone heroic genius, the moody atmospheric landscape and the man VS nature theme.
 
I first learnt about this painting in my English literature class—it was printed full-page beside Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.” Nice how some seeds take decades to bloom.
 
Revisiting Chinese ink techniques that was my main medium a decade ago, I try to incorporate traditional ink techniques in carving. For this piece, I used fancy Chinese ink that gives subtler tones. It’s about ten times more expensive than the other Chinese ink I use…
 
I’m taking a stab at monochromic carving to highlight the lines and patterns. Every time I try to restrain myself to a limited colour palette, it never succeeded. I learnt along the way that I’m most definitely a maximalist so being understated and restrained is never my strength. 
 
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This woodcut painting is carved and then coloured with the highest quality artist pigments. Archival professional-quality paint is meant to last over 100 years. I spray the artwork with three extra layers of UV protection.
 
The work is framed in a beautiful ornate super sturdy solid pine wooden frame. You have a choice of black or white frames. 
 
This piece is part of my “21 Day Challenge” project. During 1-21 November 2024, I created one small woodcut drawing per day. Each features an animal character inhabitant from my imaginary arctic country “Northlandia.”