May is crustacean month for #InsertAnInvert2024. Playing on the idea of carcinisation, the process by which again and again, other crustaceans keep evolving crab-like bodies, the prompts are "crab," "false crab," "not crab" - and, shudder, "really not crab." Some of the non-crab crustacean abominations are, well, in my subjective opinion, nightmare fuel, so I veered off the path of suggested species and found a cute but distinctly non-crab crustacean for you. Also, it was a cue to try different print media.
First up is "true crab" and I had my frog crab ready, from the warm colour prompt for Printer Solstice.
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| Frog crab, linocut, 8" x 8" Ele Willoughby, 2024 |
Next up was false crab, so I re-shared my porcelain crab.
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| Porcelain crab linocut, 8" x 10", Ele Willoughby, 2021 |
Then was "not a crab" - I cheated a bit by sharing another false crab: the yeti crab. It has crab in its name but it's really closer to a squat lobster.
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| Yeti crab linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2020 |
The last prompt is "really not a crab" with some suggestions that I honestly did not feel like contemplating at length. There are some scary looking crustaceans out there!
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| Daphina longispina, Tetrapak drypoint, 4" x 6" by Ele Willoughby, 2024 |
Instead, I went for the adorable microscope (1 to 5 mm) planktonic crustacean Daphina or water flea! Daphina longispina is a wee little freshwater water flea found worldwide in bodies of water from the size of rock pools to large lakes. They are filter feeders who mainly eat algae. This one is a female full of green eggs. I made this print using an actual Tetrapak juice container. I etched in the fine lines and peeled a bit of the surface material for coloured areas, then pushed ink into the etched areas with some card, and wiped away the excess ink. I cut my plate in a circle to suggest that this is a view through a microscope. I was able to pull a few prints on dampened watercolour paper using my etching press.
