above: preliminary sketch of Hoover

January 7:

Finished this engraving of J. E. Hoover in a rather short amount of time. I don't think my ink is mixed right. It is either too sticky or too thin. I will have to experiment with that. Hoover was a scoundrel all right. The Nation's G-Man, fighter of crime, but also one of our worst spies. Spying on anyone he could, and using his position of power to be able to do it. Parts of this print I really like, particularly the rapid strokes and translation of a quick sketch to such a slow and labor intensive process. The callous on my finger is hardening, but this process is very physical. My shoulder aches, but I am at least over the tennis elbow it gave me in my left arm.