Phil Underwood

Buzzard

Wood Engraving

THE PANDEMIC EFFECT

The pandemic has affected my working life in many ways, an increased focus on my local environment and a new appreciation for its wildlife. A move from landscape to bird life and nature.

The journey has challenged my practice in two ways:

• Creating ways to illustrate the character and capturing the beauty of birds.

• Exploring the medium of wood engraving and developing new techniques.

I have developed a new creative process. The new work starts with lots of looking and learning about wildlife photography. Ideas are then developed using an iPad to create digital prints and then produce wood engravings.

This new practice allows me to develop one design that can create two parallel prints in different mediums, sizes and that have different visual impacts.

The pandemic has changed the future of my work. The restrictions have become an opportunity to study, explore a new subject and to move my work into a new commercial area. Several of the digital prints have been turned into open prints and cards, so developing a new offer and to a new market.

The goal is to develop a collection of work around wildlife and integrate my digital and engraving creative process.