Predator Artist Trading Cards

Birds of Prey after a Wyoming group of Petroglyphs
Prints by Phillip Hoyle 2017

Just as I was feeling relief at ending the creepy images of Halloween, I saw our next theme was Predators. The images continue! I knew I needed to get away from aggressive spiders so made a list of animals that are categorized as predators. I narrowed the list to North American animals and decided to cut blocks and print more Native American inspired petroglyphs. Somehow the petroglyph seems more friendly to me than the tooth and claw images of grizzlies catching salmon or lions running down and breaking the necks of their prey.

More Predator ATCs for the trade. Phillip Hoyle, 2017

I printed on commercial papers that I then mounted on card stock. Many Thai papers take the prints easily. I used soft, easy-to-carve blocks available at art and craft supply outlets. The emphasis is on design, its easy transfer, the careful cutting, and the colors of the ground that will be the color of the carved figure. I like that the paint (I used Golden OPEN) application is like the weathering of the rocks like most of the petroglyphs on sandstone in Western American deserts. 

Enjoy these benign predator images that probably symbolized personal power or valor in hunting societies. Maybe there is a bear in you.