Woodblocks and Watercolors

Leon Loughridge

Breckenridge Gallery Breckenridge, Colorado

New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

Printed and Published by

Dry Creek Art Press Denver, Colorado

Copyright 2015 DCArtPress

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

Saying a woodblock print took 40 years to complete might sound like an exaggerated claim, yet in my case it’s true. Over the past 40 years I’ve built a foundation of artistic knowledge and experience. Four decades of printmaking liberate me to manipulate my medium and ultimately convey a range of human emotions in my landscape prints.

My woodblocks evolve through a number of stages starting with outdoor sketches and finishing with a methodical development in the studio. Since each stage depends on the previous one, it’s difficult to estimate how much time I’ve worked on a print. My watercolor sketches require a few hours. The printing extends into weeks and often more than a month for each edition.

My watercolor sketches record my immediate interaction with the Western landscape, always an integral part of my life. Personal memories, history and lore all entwine in my outdoor sketches that attempt to express an emotion awakened in me by the natural scene.

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

One might think that completing a field sketch would be an easy task, yet being open to visual inspiration offers its own challenges. There is the practical side: Fighting rush hour traffic, for example, is not a mental state for artistic inspiration. My printmaking techniques draw from centuries-old Japanese traditions. The Buddhists embrace the concept of a clean mental slate. A Buddhist teaching emphasizes that immediately after a gong is struck, as the sound reverberates the mind is a clean slate. I am not sure I want a monk following me around with a gong, cleaning my slate, but the tradition does point to the value of a settled mental state.

As a rule, when going out to sketch, I lock mental baggage in the car along with the cell phone. I eliminate preconceived notions of what to paint so I can respond to the visual environment around me. My spontaneous sketch captures the drama of an ephemeral visual scene. The sketch can be as fleeting as the moment, yet intense emotion inspires the artistic gesture.

The next chore is deciding how to translate that emotional essence into a complete statement. My momentary sketches are most often just glimpses of a whole scene. I typically combine multiple sketches, using the color scheme in one sketch for the larger composition.

A different sketch may set the mood, while another defines the positioning of objects and still another dictates the important details. I exercise artistic license as I rearrange objects or features in a scene to suit my own purpose of making a vibrant emotional statement. The composition may demand moving a mountain to the right or thinning out some trees.

Adjusting the configuration allows me a sort of divine intervention with the goal of communicating the mood and sentiment I felt while part of the landscape. Instilling emotion in an artwork can involve a single line that lends mood. The accumulated knowledge of an art form, its techniques and a sense of human nature grants an artist the skill to awaken

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

a sense of wonder, peace or excitement in fellow viewers. The sketches, studies and failed attempts all contribute emotional nuggets and layers to the final work.

As I begin my prints, I usually work in watercolors that allow for quick and fluid renderings. Moving to a process-laden medium, such as woodblock printing, challenges one's translation skills. An artist's extensive foundation or knowledge base of a medium makes possible a more creative translation. My goal is to somehow convey the spontaneous quality of my hasty watercolor sketch in the final painstakingly produced woodblock. I constantly manipulate the medium throughout the printing process.

I use three woodblocks for each print edition. Each block is carved and printed multiple times as I develop an image. With each carving stroke and with each color printed (colorrun), my process destroys the printing area of the woodblocks. The drawback to the reduction process is that — unlike a multi-block — the image cannot be reprinted. On the other hand, the reduction woodblock process allows for a great deal of spontaneity throughout the printing.

In multi-block prints the image is determined before printing. With reduction blocks the image evolves throughout the printing process.

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

As I carve the blocks between color-runs, a spontaneous carving style develops in reaction to a previous run's carve or printing technique. This freestyle development of an image is invigorating in a process sometimes perceived as unresponsive to spontaneity. Quite often, I plan to make a single color-run for the day only to be so excited with the outcome of the first run that I proceed to print a second and even a third.

My spontaneous printing most often results in great effects, but occasionally leads down a troublesome path. There, I find myself scrambling, throwing wild techniques at the print to solve the problems I created. Most of the time, I pull a rabbit out of the hat and add a bit more knowledge to my growing bag of tricks.

I rarely plan how many color-runs a print will need. I try to know when to stop. I print from light to dark, and so when I start printing dark colors, that’s a clue that I am near the end. At that point, I like to pin the print up and live with it for a few days. If something stands out, I'll determine the solution and print the adjustment.

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

I feel a print is successful when it conveys the spontaneity and emotion from the original sketch. I want the print to express a mood to the viewer and to capture their emotional attention. As I design and print each color-run, I attempt to infuse my art with my personal connection to the original scene in nature and to the inks on the paper. And as I finish printing the last color, I realize my direct interaction with the print is over. Complete. Once finished, I become just another viewer looking for a sense of inspiration from the woodblock print.

Leon Loughridge

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

The Watercolors

“Bald Mountain” Watercolor, 6x9

“Grays and Torreys” Watercolor, 9x6

“Red Dawn” Watercolor, 9x6

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

The Watercolors

“Mountain Cathedral” Watercolor, 10.5 x 4.5

“Summer Meadow Watercolor, 10.5 x 4.5

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

The Watercolors

“Big Spruce” Watercolor, 10x8

“Gore Creek” Watercolor, 10x8

“Rocky Bend” Watercolor, 10x8 DCArtPress.com

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

The Watercolors

“Sapphire Point” Watercolor, 22” x 14”

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

The Woodblocks

“Aspen Glow” Woodblock, 10.5 x 4.5

“Summer Meadow” Woodblock, 10.5 x 4.5

“Gnarled Aspen” Woodblock, 10.5 x 4.5

“Mountain Cathedral” Woodblock, 10.5 x 4.5

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

The Woodblocks

“Generations” Woodblock, 14x11”

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

The Woodblocks

“Gore Range Sunrise” Woodblock, 18x12

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

“Haybarn” Woodblock, 18x12

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

“Ten Mile Range” Woodblock, 18x12

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

“Shady Vista” Woodblock, 7x16”

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

The Woodblocks

“Morning Reflections” Woodblock, 18x12”

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

“Gilded Adobe at Trampas” Woodblock, 14x11

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

Born; Denver, Colorado Colorado Institute of Art United States Army, Graphic Designer

1952 1971-1972 1972-1975

Raised in the open ranch land of Northern New Mexico, Leon developed an affinity for the Southwestern landscape. He was greatly influenced by his grandmother’s involvement in Northern New Mexico art circles. Later study at the Colorado Institute of Art along with private study reinforced his abilities. Stationed in Germany while in the army, he was able to travel extensively throughout Europe, visiting museums and maintaining sketching journals. In addition, he studied painting techniques of the old masters for two years, finishing by copying a Franz Hals at the Stuttgart Stattsgalerie Art Museum. Long having an interest in pen and ink, etching took on a special meaning from the museum’s collection of etchings.

On his return to Colorado, Leon began to study the intaglio techniques and selling the prints in mountain galleries. In 1998, Leon purchased his first letterpress and received immediate success with the woodblock prints he produced. The layering of color in the woodblock process allows him to better capture the atmospheric qualities of the Southwestern Landscape that have such a strong meaning for him.

Leon has continued to develop his printmaking skills at his print studio, Dry Creek Art Press producing his reduction style woodblocks as well as limited edition books. His woodblocks are exhibited nationally and collected by numerous museums. He and his wife also owned a gilding studio, producing and restoring hand carved gold leaf frames for museums and collectors for 20 years.

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

2012 Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Ks, Peaks To Prairie, 2011 Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO Western Horizons 2010 Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS

2010-2015 2008-2015 2006-2015 2004-2013 2006, 2012

2015 2015 2014 2013 2012 2012 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2008 2008 2007 2006 2006 2005 2004 2004 2004

Small Works, Great Wonders, National Cowboy Museum, Oklahoma City, OK American Masters, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY Coors Western Art Exhibit, National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO Representing The West, Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Pueblo, CO Governor's Show, Loveland Museum, Loveland, CO

New Works, Breckenridge Gallery, Breckenridge, CO Colorado Watercolors, 5280 Elements Gallery, CO Desert Skies, 5280 Elements Gallery, Centennial, CO The Royal Road, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Meridian, Exploring Bounderies, Goodwin Fine Art, Denver, CO La Veta Fine Art Gallery, La Veta, CO Santa Fe Trail, Cimarron Cutoff, American Masters Gallery, Kansas City, MO 3Perspectives, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Colores de Otono, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe NM Timberlines’ Edge, Vail International Gallery, Vail, CO Spring in the Flint Hills, American Legacy Gallery, Kansas City, MO Land of Ancients-Beef Basin, Dry Creek Art Press. Denver, CO Las Montanas de Santa Fe, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Spring Thaw in the Gore Range, Vail International Gallery, Vail CO The Flint Hills, American Legacy Gallery, Kansas City MO The Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, Pinon Fine Art, Littleton CO The Santa Fe Trail, Pinon Fine Art, Littleton CO The Place Between, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Carved Images, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, Saddles, Cabins and Mountain Vistas, Sangre de Cristo Fine Art Center, Pueblo, CO, Vistas del Corazon, Great Southwest Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO Paintings and Woodblocks,Pinon Fine Art, Denver, CO

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New Woodblocks and Watercolors / Leon Loughridge

Wickenburg, AZ Phoenix, AZ

2014 2014

Wichita, KA

2010

Fidelity Bank, Wichita, KS

2010

Athens, GA

2010

University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

2009

Boulder, CO

2009

Denver, Co

2008 Denver, CO

Permanent Collection, Pueblo, Co , Breckenridge, CO , Golden, CO

2007 2007 2005 2004

Denver, CO

1992

Golden Co

1984

Denver, CO

2010

Colorado Springs, CO

2008

, Beaver Creek, CO

2006

, Executive Suites Anaheim, CA Denver, CO

2005 2004

Denver, CO

1994

Denver CO

1989

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