Up and On 1940

Richard Evett Bishop made “Up and On” using hatching and cross-hatching marks to describe a flock of ducks taking flight. It’s a print, so I am imagining the process of drawing the image in reverse on a plate. I feel sympathetic towards the artist. It's a real challenge to get those tonal gradations right. Think about how the artist might have been thinking about how light defines form? What are the tricks to make marks on a flat surface appear three-dimensional? I feel like this is what Bishop was thinking about as he carefully created the patterns of line and shade. Each precise gesture with a burin or etching needle, each line carefully considered to convey the texture of feathers, the weight of a body in flight, or the gentle sway of marsh grasses. Maybe he spent time observing ducks closely, studying their movements, how their wings catch the light. Or perhaps he was drawing on memory, trying to capture a fleeting moment witnessed in nature. It makes me want to watch birds for a while and see what I can see.