Kayakers by George Johanson
- Title: Kayakers
- Artist: George Johanson
- Medium: Colored woodcut
- Size: 14"h x 18"w
- Added to collection: 2008
- Donor: Gift of the artist
- Campus: Rock Creek
- Location: B2/2 N Hallway gallery - outside rm 244
Johanson often made woodcuts based on his paintings as a way to explore possibilities for simplifying the design by translating it into another medium. Â This woodcut relief print is based on the painting Three Kayakers in the Rock Creek Collection. Â Comparing the two, the basic format and shapes are the same, but the subtle blue tones of the painting have been translated into bold black, purple, and red. Â After the image was carved the artist cut the block into four sections on a table saw, inked them separately, fitted them back together and then printed them all at once on his etching press. Â The sky block appears to have been printed red and then inked and reprinted in purple, presumably so that the red foreground would advance in space. Â This technique of cutting up a relief block so it could be printed in multiple colors was developed by Edvard Munch.