Barry Moser's Uncommonly Expressive Animals

This weekend I stumbled upon a picture book illustrated with the most exquisite hand-colored wood engravings. The book was Ever Heard of an Aardwolf? and the illustrator was American artist Barry Moser.

Even though I found this book in the Children's library area of the Academy of Natural Sciences, it is hardly only for children.

Moser is a serious artist with a prolific career and his own imprint, Pennyroyal Press. Many of his stunning black and white original engravings (which sell for hundreds each) depict animals.


This book in particular included type designed by Eric Gill, lettering by Judythe Sieck, and was printed on Mohawk Superfine paper. I might have found it among many cheap, mass-produced, mediocre books for kids, but it was a gem among pebbles.


Most importantly, the imagery is certainly sophisticated enough to be enjoyed on a high level by an adult audience.


What most captivated me about the animals in this book were the emotions conveyed by the animal's facial expressions (especially in the eyes), and sometimes the gestures of the bodies. The okapi glancing down as if caught in a moment of wistful reflection. The zebu who stares down the viewer with a haughty frown.

Obviously I can't (or at least shouldn't) repost a significant portion of someone else's book here. But I can at least give a small taste with these three, low-resolution details of primates wearing tremendously human expressions. I highly encourage anyone who enjoys wood engravings and/or animal art to seek out this book and see the whole collection of works in its full glory.

"Quiet Night" by William Hays

Image posted with the permission of the artist. More about William Hays as well as images of his paintings and prints can be found (and purchased) at the Artist's Loft website.

A tangerine glow
Heat embraced by docile snow
An igloo's hearth, unbound

"Driving Snow" by Erich Heckel

Here's a little gem from Erich Heckel I just discovered. 

Sharp planks of light and shadow cut across the sky and into the tumbling landscape like bolts of lightning. Flat, silhouettes of trees seem more like over-sized dried leaves and naked branches stabbed into the snow-covered hill. I feel I am standing in a high place with nothing below to catch me if I fall. And losing my balance is likely as this whole place is rolling along at a ferocious pace. 

I really need to feature more Die Brücke artists on this blog. So many exhilarating woodcuts came out of German Expressionism. 

Owl and Cat in Love, "The Wave" (double page spread pages 13-14)

"The Wave"
Woodcut (reduction)
20" x 9.5" (image)
24" x 15" (paper)
Oil based inks on Subi paper
Limited edition of 2

Yet another installment of the Owl and Cat in Love project. Here the lovers' peaceful ocean voyage is abruptly disturbed by a threatening wave. 


Anyone out there familiar with woodcuts probably knows that with this print I'm a making small tribute to the Japanese master Hokusai's most famous print, The Great Wave of Kanagawa, often also referred to as The Wave. Although my image puts far more emphasis on the couple's panic, while in Hokusai's, the boats and their inhabitants are enveloped in the great wave that dominates the image. 

Hokusai did many wave prints, and I find that my wave print has more in common with a couple of his others. In his "Ocean Waves" print (right), the boats, especially the one in the foreground, are what mainly draws the eye. As in my print, the waves are more of a threat that surrounds the subject.  

My overall composition and color palette has more in common with Hokusai's Mount Fuji Seen from the Sea (left), though the main subjects are reversed, where in Hokusai's a cracking wave rises up on the right side, seeming to burst into dots of white, which are actually a flock of birds flying in the distance. In mine that compositional space is taken up by the owl, boosted up by the tilted boat, his wings dramatically unfolding against rushing blue. 


All of these prints incorporate stripes of blue and white to describe moving waters, although my print distinctly departs from the Japanese tradition when instead of the water breaking into claw-like curves (a decorative motif which apparently influenced the designs of Western silverware), the crest of my wave continues the lines in a row of spirals. I was going for a somewhat playful association with wheels or spinning machinery, as if my protagonists are being sucked under a steamroller. The closest Japanese print from the ukiyo-e tradition that I can find with a somewhat similar feeling is Totoya Hokkei's Mekari Festival (right.) Run, guys, run! 

That's enough about woodcuts and waves for now.

Owl and Cat in Love, "Above and Below" (double page spread pages 11-12)

"Above and Below"
Woodcut (reduction)
20" x 9.5" (image)
24" x 15" (paper)
Oil based inks on Subi paper
Limited edition of 2

I've really hit my stride with the Owl and Cat in Love project. I've actually finished the next double-page spread as well, which I'll post about here tomorrow. 

Daytime on the open seas shows the nocturnal lovers asleep in their boat. They and the impressive pile of remains of their many aquatic kills are described in burning hues. The piled carcasses are trophy-like; after all, why haven't they simply thrown the bones overboard? The heap of death grows with each passing day of their long journey. 

Below them, much cooler colors describe the many creatures who lurk and surround them just below the water line. Some of these might become the Owl and Cat's next meal. Others appear more threatening to our protagonists. The lovers quietly occupy their own private, tiny, floating island, above an entire other world. 

Owl and Cat in Love, "Sailing Away" (double page spread pages 9-10)

"Sailing Away"
Woodcut (reduction)
20" x 9.5" (image)
24" x 15" (paper)
Oil based inks on Subi paper
Limited edition of 2

This is the next in my Owl and Cat in Love project. Here the new lovers sail away in their famous pea-green boat. I imagine them leaving the city for the wilderness. Eventually the wilderness of the island "where the bong tree grows," but first the wilderness of the open seas...

"Orange Persian" by Elizabeth Norton

That cat stared right at me like a miniature demon perched on a stump. He knew he wasn't supposed to be on the table, so he preempted my shooing with a threatening glare. His long fur lapped the dark tablecloth, shedding strands wherever they touched, as a torch leaves scorch-marks. Thankfully the fire was contained, and I'm not afraid of the devil.

Elizabeth Norton (1887-1985) was an American artist known especially for her printmaking, including color woodcuts (frequently of animals) such as this. Many of her prints ended up in notable collections such as the Met and Smithsonian. A full profile of Norton can be found at the Pacific Art League's website here.