Linoleum print number two for my printmaking class. This is Ecator, the spirit inhabiting my 6'3" great sword.

I'm growing more comfortable with the tools and methods, but it seems evident that I am rather attached to drawing as if with a pencil, despite the discrepancy in the method of making marks.

Personally, my favorite part of this entire piece is the black halo effect I carved into the background. Ecator has a black halo, but I couldn't figure out a way to make it apparent directly above and partially obscuring his head, so I mimicked the medievil method of placing the halo behind the head, albeit stylized for linoleum and in black.

I also like the hair, which I did in a fashion similar to the japanese method of showing hair and hair shine. That was the second most fun thing I did. The first was the halo, which was the last thing I did. Arg.

I also wanted to get a more three-dimensional feel in the sword-mark on his chest, but I couldn't grasp it at all, grew frustrated, and ended up flattening the damned thing to a straight white. I'm not happy about that at all.

I'm having a very hard time with the reproduction of the fine lines. I'm tempted to jack my friend's uber-narrow V-gouge again, since mine is rather broad.