Drying as we speak (or “curing” since this is oil-based ink which is already dry to the touch….), this 4 color reduction woodcut is printed on handmade paper I made in June. It’s 100% cotton, pigmented rag paper (with added sparklies). Closeup at bottom shows the gold sparkling through…..

Your Days are Numbered Cornish Cock!

large bust of broiler chicken

'Your Days are Numbered Cornish Cock!' * 22in x 16in * 4 color reduction woodcut on handmade paper (click to enlarge)

This is a Cornish cock or Broiler or Cornish Cross. The breed is raised for meat.

The print was made for a folio exchange entitled “Your Days Are Numbered.” (how perfect is that for my seasonal practice of raising animals for meat??!!? Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity). Actually, for the folio they are cropped down to 10in wide, which makes the rooster seem even bigger still (unable to fit into the scene’s dimensions). 22 of the 49 prints were sent off to the folio, and the other 27 I will have available to sell as is (16in x 22in).

Typically, growers butcher these guys at about 8 weeks old. I like ’em mature, so I let them grow till they’re ginormous and each one dresses out at about 12 lbs. or so. This way, one chicken can be made into various dishes, and frozen, to feed us for over one week.

woodcut prints of giant chicken drying on line

closeup of cotton rag green handmade paper with sparkling gold flecks

click to enlarge

And here’s the final closeup of the Avocado Gold paper that I love. See how it sparkles and how the black ink looks exactly like what it comes from: petroleum distillates….

Oh, and when looking up to see how to spell badass, I came across these awesome definitions of the word at the Urban Dictionary.

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