European artist _spurv draws from both his experiences and imagination for ideas for his art. He is a proud Leo and shares his August birthday with Madonna. _spurv is a designer who also draws a lot, but his favourite medium is linocut printing.
What is is about linocuts that makes them different than other media?
I like the technique very much. The feel is much more personal for me as I have to carve out the wood to create the image. Carving my designs makes me feel that this process gives my artwork an increased feel of intimacy. With a woodcut or linocut you must think in the reverse logic of drawing. You carve out the areas that will remain white in the print and leaving only the surfaces that will take the ink to print on the paper. So you are making a negative or a reverse of the original drawing.
Where or how did you learn this process of printing?
Even though I had a lot of experience with drawing and design from university, I actually learned wood & linocut from watching YouTube videos. The things that you can find on the internet these days!
This process has been around for quite a long time correct?
Yes definitely, plus I LOVE the contrast between a very old technique and a contemporary naughty subject.
How do you print the different colours?
When I make my prints, specifically in a 2 colour version, it means that I do reduction linocut. After printing the first colour, I cut the block another time to print the second colour. That means that I completely lose the original drawing that I made on the plate. There is no possibility ever to print that same image again. It gets totally lost in the process. Actually, I love these the most, but it is a lot more work and you must do it all perfectly because when you apply the last ink you can easily mess it all up. At this point you really can‘t do anything more than to accept that you have a few less copies than you originally intended to print.
Comparing the process to life
It‘s like the guy that sheds his weekday work persona on a Friday night and totally transforms himself by adding new layers of fetish gear, making himself ready to revel in the dark bars and circuit parties on the weekend. The image is all right underneath the surface, you just have to make the right cuts and layers to bring it all out.
You genuinely enjoy cutting out these sexy fetish scenes with your tools?
Oh Yeah, the act of carving out the wood and shaping it, preparing the surface to take the ink for the printing for me is the most intimate process – even more than first drawing the figures on the plate.
My plan is to focus on creating more _spurv art works in the future, following in the footsteps of Tom of Finland, with sights set on joining the ranks of other well known fetish artists from all around the world.
Follow him on Instagram: @_spurv
