Don’t Torture a Duckling

Wood Engraving, 2020

I ended 2020 with the largest wood engraving I have ever created. This print is the first in a series I am creating in which I encapsulate the plot of a giallo movie in a detailed print. This one is based on Lucio Fulci’s legendary film Don’t Torture a Duckling. The movie is about a small Italian village which is plagued with a series of child murders. The movie can get pretty sleazy, but it’s not the usual gore-fest one would expect from Fulci (with one hilariously bad exception).

The block took me many weeks to engrave and I think I have arthritis now, but it was worth it. I also managed to come close to perfecting my laser print transfer process which made seeing my design much easier than usual. Here are some images of the process:

  • Don't Torture a Ducking [Process 1]
    Image transfer and cutting
  • Don't Torture a Ducking [Process 3]
    Cutting progress
  • Don't Torture a Ducking [Process 4]
    Engraving the sky
  • Don't Torture a Duckling [Printing and Registration]
    Printing and Registration
  • Don't Torture a Duckling [Printing Drying]
    Drying prints
  • Don't Torture a Duckling [Editioning]
    Curating and signing
  • Don't Torture a Ducking [Detail 3]
    Detail plummet
  • Don't Torture a Ducking [Detail 2]
    Detail Wild Woman
  • Don't Torture a Ducking [Detail 1]
    Detail a child is dead
  • Don't Torture a Duckling [Final Print and Block]
    Final print and block, with pencils for scale.