art blog

e.m. e/they nyc printmaker and paleoartist cypressure.ink

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an updated Raptor Red portrait

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prints of this drawing (and more) are now available on my store!

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Extraction (2021), linocut on paper, edition of 5+AP

How do we engage with extinct ecologies and fossil life? Study or consumption? Discovery or destruction? In answer, this print juxtaposes an azhdarchid pterosaur, recently proposed to be a top predator, and an oil derrick.

You can buy a print in this edition on my store! (link has changed)

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Fractal Ammonite (2024), foil lithograph, edition of 2+2AP (available here)

Tubercule Ammonite (2024), foil lithograph, edition of 1AP (SOLD OUT)

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Velociraptor mongoliensis sitting politely

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prints of this drawing (and more) are now available on my store!

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birds for flocking!

Kank, Velociraptor, Plumadraco, King kong finch

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Update: new print series preview + art fair!

so i've been absent from here a lot, and not just because of social media disillusionment: for most of the past several weeks i was at a residency working on a large portfolio of tiny etchings. the images above are just a small sample of the whole series (it's an alphabet of extinct animals), and i plan to officially release all 26 prints in just a few weeks at the Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair.

the fair will be at Powerhouse Arts in Gowanus, Brooklyn, from April 9-12. i'll be there at least one of the days, with these prints and more for sale at the Shoestring Press booth. it's going to be an awesome weekend of art and community, so please come by if you're in the area!

(taxa pictured above: Eotyrannus, Dunkleosteus, Rocky Mountain locust (top row), mammoth, Wiwaxia, thylacine (bottom row)

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

woahhhh these are so gorgeous, what type of etching is that??? I don't think I've seen anything like it before!

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thank you!! these are soap ground etchings over an acrylic aquatint ground (applied with an airbrush—the studio didnt have the traditional rosin box that i'm used to). the soap ground, also known as white ground, is basically a paint that will dissolve in the acid, and you can get some really cool textures and tonal variation that can be hard to obtain with etching. i personally don't have the patience for step-biting etc, so i love the spontaneous way soap ground lets me work.

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these prints are now available on my store (with more, including a reprinting of the Thylacine, to come)!

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Probelosodon (2026), foil lithograph, edition of 2+2AP

the first print from my residency at Women's Studio Workshop! this is based on some drawings in my sketchbook from a museum visit; initially just a test for the litho technique i would go on to teach during the Art-in-Ed classes that were part of the program, but the print came out so well that i decided to make a small edition of it.

available for purchase on my store

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The Flock (Struthiomimus) (2024), linocut on paper, edition of 12

buy a print in this edition! (link has changed)

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Shri rapax portrait + studies (or Eat a tasty protoceratops!!!)

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Quetzalcoatlus (2026), soap ground etching with aquatint

The letter "Q" from the series Nothing Left But Their Names. This print is available on my store.

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AMNH 5060 (The Flood) (2022-23), woodcut, state II, edition of 15

"This woodcut is an illustration of an Edmontosaurus mummy, about to buried by the flood that will preserve its desiccated carcass for the next 66 million years until being unearthed by paleontologists and put on display at the American Museum of Natural History, where I drew it in early 2022. Two Cimolopterygids, extinct relatives of modern birds, rest in the water unconcerned by the oncoming flood."

you can buy a print in this edition on my store!

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Auk (2026), soap ground etching with aquatint

The letter "A" from the series Nothing Left But Their Names. This print is available on my store.

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Velociraptor mongoliensis sitting politely

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prints of this drawing (and more) are now available on my store!

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Golden Toad (2026), soap ground etching with aquatint

The letter "G" from the series Nothing Left But Their Names. This print is available on my store.

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The Dragon at Rest in a Garden (Mei Long) (2026), lithograph, edition of 4

available for purchase on my store!

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inspired by the unicorn tapestries and botanical illustrations, my newest lithograph features ginkgo and redwood leaves along with the troodontid Mei long, or the “sleeping dragon," after a fossil curled up in the same pose shown here.

fun fact: all the leaves in this print are actual leaves collected from city parks! gingkos and redwoods have existed since the Mesozoic and are popular ornamental trees, so it was both thematically appropriate and easy to obtain the leaves to use as stamps on my stone.

after deciding on an arrangement (see above), i individually inked each leaf and pressed them onto the matrix, which perfectly transferred the shape and texture into the final print. this was very much an experiment and also a trial of my patience (i spent six straight hours getting every leaf in the right place), and i am extremely pleased with how well the process worked! i 💚 leaf

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Mantellisaurus portrait + studies

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Chase scene