Zealous Alchemy
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zealousalchemy.bsky.social
Zealous Alchemy
@zealousalchemy.bsky.social
English xylographer (woodcut printmaker) and artist. Fuelled by film, anime, and country music.

Shop: zealousalchemy.com
Etsy: zealousalchemy.etsy.com
Links: zealousalchemy.carrd.co
Recent viewings.

Been a lot of talk of Richard Burton lately, so I decided to watched The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.

I put a lot of weight on how films end. I generally dislike needless epilogues and time skips. The ending of The Spy Who was brilliant.

#letterboxd #films
November 12, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Got my Baskerville, Sachiel, and End of Evangelion woodcuts turned into stickers.

#printmaking #woodcuts
November 12, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Painted some more Space Marine woodcuts for London Comic Con Winter this weekend.

Ultramarines are always popular, but I also painted a Blood Raven. Dawn of War played a big part in getting me into 40K.

#printmaking #woodcut #spacemarine #warhammer #40k
November 12, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Pac-Man and Ghosts, carved from lime wood.

They're rough 2-3cm cubed.

#woodcarving #carving #pacman
November 11, 2025 at 11:12 AM
I did have a full set of ghosts I carved too, but Pinky sold at my last market. Maybe I'll make another one.

I keep them very boxy as they're based on pixel sprites, yet they have the wonky analog appeal of a hand-carved piece of wood.
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 PM
I carved a little wooden Pac-Man. I'll get a painted photo of him tomorrow.

#woodcarving #carving #pacman
November 10, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Ramiel design is almost ready. I'm not quite happy with the building detailing yet, maybe one of the right-hand building needs individual windows or something...

Hopefully a fresh pair of eyes on this tomorrow will give me an answer.

#printmaking #woodcut #nge #evangelion
November 10, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Made a rough Blender render for my Ramiel woodcut. 3D modelling is not my forte, but it's incredibly useful for working out perspectives and creating compositions.

I'm really pleased with the composition here, and it makes Ramiel more interesting.

#printmaking #woodcut #nge #evangelion
November 8, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Thumbnail ideas for some more Evangelion Angel woodcuts. Ramiel is first, then likely Leliel. After that, who knows?

The grandiose idea would be to do all of them, but 18 prints is a huge undertaking. We shall see...

#nge #eva #neongenesisevangelion
November 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
The final woodcut compared to the digital design is like night and day. The texture. The character of every single line. The tiny mistakes.

Also, I didn't realise quite how far my carving skill has come this year.

#woodcut #printmaking #taipeistory
November 4, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Printed my woodcut based on Edward Yang's Taipei Story (1985).

The parallel lines were a bit of a task, but I think it was worth the effort.

#woodcut #printmaking #taipeistory
November 2, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Really tough to get a good video, as I normally have my nose pressed to the block, and I turn the block often to get the right approach angle.

I just put in the outline cuts, try and push the waste wood out, and then trim any stubborn strands.
October 31, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Carving the end of every line with a knife to get a sharper finish. It's mind numbing and taking forever, but I didn't want the curved ends you get from using a gouge.

Probably have ~100 more to carve, and then it's finished.

#woodcut #printmaking #taipeistory
October 30, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Some solid progress.

#woodcut #printmaking #taipeistory
October 28, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Probably the hardest part of the design to carve. I didn't use a ruler to carve these lines, as I wanted the inevitable wobbles and minor wonkiness to show in the final prints.

#woodcut #printmaking #taipeistory
October 28, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Started carving the block!

#woodcut #printmaking #taipeistory
October 27, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Saw the new Chainsaw Man at the Leicester Square IMAX. The screen is obnoxiously big - 26.5m wide!

The film was outstandin. I just can't get enough of the over the top nonsense Fujimoto cooks up.

#chainsawman #csm
October 26, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Saw this legendary van today in London.

#dragonball #dbz
October 26, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The only picture I took from the market today in Colchester, just before I set up the dreaded sticker rack.

We were crammed in like sardines, but it was a fun market!

Next up is London Film & Comic Con in November, then I've got 5 more local markets days in late Nov/Dec.

#printmaking #woodcut
October 25, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Halfway through Ken Burns' ~15hr Vietnam War doc.

Being English, the only exposure I've had to Vietnam is watching old war movies; so this series is enlightening.

Burns' series on the ACW and Country Music are both fantastic, and this one is of the same calibre.

#vietnam #kenburns
October 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM
I think this is ready for carving now...
October 22, 2025 at 7:58 PM
I don't know if carving this is going to work out, but you have to keep pushing the limits of the craft to get anywhere meaningful.

#printmaking #woodcut #taipeistory #edwardyang
October 22, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I don't believe you need expensive tools for woodcut, and I'd advise spending your money on good carving tools over anything else first.

But I'm a big fan of my fat durathene roller. Cheap rollers tend to have a small diameter; this thing can carry so much more ink.

#printmaking #woodcut
October 20, 2025 at 9:33 PM
End of Evangelion woodcut print

I'm trying to lean further into the unique visual qualities of woodcut, and I think this achieves it. It's rare a piece actually turns out how I initially envisioned it in my head.

#printmaking #woodcut #nge #eva #evangelion
October 18, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Finished carving the End of Evangelion block. Took ~10 hours to carve.

Excited to see how this one prints!

#printmaking #woodcut #nge #eva #evangelion
October 17, 2025 at 9:55 PM