This is one of two prints that I made based on Eskimo folk tales, and it's a linoleum block print. With this, I was trying to get contrast and texture, as well as an idea that it's in a cave and a distinct emotion from the bear and the boy. For the texture, I tried to have some variety by alternating between taking out big, deep chunks of linoleum (like on the bear's side and leg), flicking out small pieces (like the bear's muzzle or the boy's hood), and just scratching the linoleum (like on the boy's parka). However, some of the lighter scratching I did to create more variance in value didn't work, since they were too shallow and filled with ink. Another technique I used was to blend black and brown ink to give it a mottled look and to give the dark, earthy look of a cave, and to make it look more dramatic. After all, the boy is looking at his mother's skull:
One day, a pregnant woman was walking and collecting berries when it began
to rain so she sought shelter in a cave. Unfortunately, there was a she-bear in
the cave, who killed and ate the woman but decided to keep the baby boy in her
stomach and raise him as her own. As the boy grew up, his mother's skull
remained in the cave and became one of his favorite playthings. He would ask the
bear what it was, but she would say, 'Oh, that's just a dirty old skull. Don't
worry about it.' One day, the bear was out hunting, and the boy decided to
wander out on the ice with his skull. While he was walking, a team of hunters
spotted him. A shaman was with them, and he recognized the skull as that of the
woman who had gone missing all those years ago, so he chanted a spell to bring
the mother back to life. Together again, the mother and son went back with the
hunters to the village and lived happily ever after, but the she-bear cried
every night and never forgot about her son.
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