November

Gordon Louis Mortensen

Mortensen found the inspiration for his color woodcut November in western Minnesota. The golden sky adds the only warmth to this chilly snowy landscape. Snow drifts have migrated over the last of the golden grasses of fall and the purple trees have long lost their leaves. The line of delicate grasses in the foreground counterbalance the line of purple trees adding perspective and depth to the scene.

Gordon Mortensen commented on the process he uses: "Only one woodblock is used. On it an image is drawn in India ink. Before the first color is printed, any areas that are to remain unprinted (white or the color of the paper) are cut away from the surface of the block. Then an oil base ink is used to print the first color on all of the sheets of paper that are to be used for the edition and proofs. After the first printing the block is again cut, removing any surface of the block that is to remain the first color in the finished print. After each subsequent color is printed, the block is cut, the process continues until the print is finished and most of the surface of the block is cut away."