The Meriwether

December 2023

By Jesse Nunan

When on hour thirty (out of sixty) - of constructing a seven foot by three foot carving - your mind can only think of several things. First, my back hurts. Second, I’m hungry. Third, why the hell did I decide to do this?

It started with traveling in England this past summer.

A woman sits on green grass overlooking scenic cliffs and ocean under partly cloudy sky.

While there, we attended a horserace in New Market.

People sitting outdoors on wicker furniture in a backyard garden, with a man in a white shirt and striped tie holding a magazine, and a woman in a floral dress relaxing on a cushion. There are drinks, water bottles, and magazines on the table in front of them.

While at the race I took this photograph with my Canon camera.

Three jockeys riding racehorses on a grassy racetrack under a blue sky with clouds.

When I started the five week workshop, steamroller printing, we were first instructed to make a design. Using the previous photo for reference I produced this sketch. I used my Apple pencil and my iPad to draw this on a digital art platform called Procreate. It was the first draft for the overall project.

Sketch of three racehorses with jockeys riding them, in motion.

I then revised the sketch. Turning the entire drawing into a piece made up solely of different sized lines. Giving the effect of shading instead of having actual shading in the composition. I also added a black background with a variety of different sized white lines in it. The black brings your eye to the horses and jockeys, while the white lines add a sense of motion and speed.

Line drawing of three jockeys riding racehorses on a racetrack with black and white horizontal stripes in the background.

Once the design was complete I printed it out using a toner printer. It took 24 pieces of paper. Turning my original design into 7 ft. x 3 ft.

Black and white line art of three racehorses and jockeys in a race, printed on multiple panels laid on the floor.

This is a clip of an instagram post that my steamroller printing professor, Dusty Herbig, made. In this we put Estisol 150 on a 7 ft. x 3 ft. Medium Density Fiberboard. We then did a xerox transfer by putting the printed design face down onto the board and sending it through a press. This allowed the design to get transferred onto the board, which would provide a guide for me to start carving.

A large wooden panel features an orange outline illustration of three horses with riders, against a dark background.

Now that I had my design on the block I got started carving. These were the five tools I used. For a size reference these can be seen in the second image as well.

Five wood chisel hand tools with wooden handles and metal blades, labeled 'Power Grip'.
A wooden artwork in progress with carved and painted orange floral design, surrounded by wood shavings, on a workshop floor.
A wood carving in progress depicting a cowboy on a bucking horse with a dog beside him, on a large wooden panel with carving tools and a phone nearby.
Artwork depicting a sheriff, a cow in a cage, and a man with a hat pointing, drawn with white and orange lines on a dark background.

A quick look at what the carving process looked like.

I did, however, gain a few battle scars during this…

A woman in a gray hoodie shows her thumb with a piece of chewed gum stuck on it during a video call.
A hand holding a chisel with blood on fingers, with a brick wall and a small container in the background.

Once the carving was finished I put on the base layer of ink.

A wooden artwork depicting a scene of four horses with jockeys racing, viewed from above with a person's feet wearing white sneakers at the bottom.

With multiple layers of ink on it, this is what the block looked like.

Illustration of horse racing with two jockeys riding horses on a racetrack, depicted in a sketch-like style using black and beige lines.

Finally we had printing day! Where the whole class gathered with their printing blocks to use the steamroller. Driven by our professor Dusty! First a group of people rolled on fresh ink to my carving. Then the second group laid the blank canvas on top of the carving. Finally, the steamroller went over it, pressing the design onto the canvas.

Here is the final product!

Black and white artistic drawing of three racehorses with jockeys racing on a track with horizontal lines in the background.

Once printing day had passed, I decided that I wanted a few more prints from the piece. So I used a smaller press in the studio to print onto a gauze material. I also printed parts of the carving onto smaller pieces of paper. In the video, you can see both drying in my dorm room.

Work table with artwork of a person in a hat and a dog, created with a wood burning technique.

Thank you for reading! I am currently in the process of making posters and post cards of this print. If you are interested in them please feel free to reach out to me! My email is jesse.m.nunan@gmail.com.