According to local legend, a ghostly dog going by the name of Black Shuck is said to stalk the Fens, fields and graveyards of East Anglia. With his dark, shaggy fur and red, fiery eyes, the dog makes not a sound as he walks yet his howl causes the blood to run cold of anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot on a dark, stormy night.
One particularly sinister account from 1577 reports that the giant hellhound forced his way into the Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh, Suffolk, fatally clamping his jaws around the necks of two unsuspecting members of the congregation and leaving scorch marks on the doors– evidence of his existence that remains to this day.
Rumours of this havoc-wreaking creature continue to surface, inspiring creatives over the centuries to immortalise the tale. One such artist is Felixstowe native Clare Curtis.
“It’s a personal one,” she says of her print, Black Shuck. “It has a lot to do with where I live. The legend is quite prevalent in East Anglia. I read a lot of different accounts of people who had supposedly seen it.”
The result is a perfect example of the printmaker’s remarkable aptitude for storytelling. Despite the simpler, graphic forms demanded by the medium, her works are a constant revelation of detail, bringing to life the gripping narrative within. Dashing across the marshy wetland, past feather-tipped reeds and umbrellalike blooms, are two 1950s-style figures, flashlight in hand. Both subjects point to two of the artist’s key influences: plants and British mid-century art and design.
The print is also telling of Clare’s practice, being half made using her main medium, linocut. The rest of the print is a rare example of the collagraph technique.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2021-utgaven av Artists & Illustrators.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Still life IN 3 HOURS
Former BP Portrait Award runner-up FELICIA FORTE guides you through a simple, structured approach to painting alla prima that tackles dark, average and light colours in turn
Movement in composition
Through an analysis of three masterworks, landscape painter and noted author MITCHELL ALBALA shows how you can animate landscape composition with movement
Shane Berkery
The Irish-Japanese artist talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about the innovative concepts and original colour combinations he brings to his figurative oil paintings from his Dublin garden studio
The Working Artist
Something old, something new... Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL has expert advice for balancing fresh ideas with completing half-finished work
Washes AND GLAZES
Art Academy’s ROB PEPPER introduces an in-depth guide to incorporating various techniques into your next masterpiece. Artwork by STAN MILLER, CHRIS ROBINSON and MICHELE ILLING
Hands
LAURA SMITH continues her new four-part series, which encourages you to draw elements of old master paintings, and this month’s focus is on capturing hands
Vincent van Gogh
To celebrate The Courtauld’s forthcoming landmark display of the troubled Dutch master’s self-portraits, STEVE PILL looks at the stories behind 10 of the most dramatic works on display
BRING THE drama
Join international watercolour maestro ALVARO CASTAGNET in London’s West End to paint a dramatic street scene
Serena Rowe
The Scottish painter tells STEVE PILL why time is precious, why emotional responses to colour are useful, and how she finds focus every day with the help of her studio wall
Bill Jacklin
Chatting over Zoom as he recovers from appendicitis, the Royal Academician tells STEVE PILL about classic scrapes in New York and his recent experiments with illustration