Wood mouse studies

I had another opportunity, via the cat, to study some local wildlife - this is a wood mouse.

Pencil and watercolour in the Stillman & Birn zeta journal, which is slowly but surely being filled up!

Scrumptious succulents

A couple of months ago I had a lovely afternoon with a couple of pals, visiting gardens in an 'Open Garden' event (Moseley in Bloom, in Birmingham UK). The gardens were, of course, just beautiful, and a common theme seemed to be succulents - people had them planted in pots, planters, kitchen sinks, and all sorts of places. They looked fab, and inspired me to try a reduction linocut, and this is how it turned out...

This was the first chance I've had to use the Ternes-Burton registration system (available here in the UK) - suffice it to say I will be using it forever more, it's that good!

I started off with some sketchbook research. On the left-hand page I have made cut-out shapes which I played around with until I found a composition I liked.

Some in-progress pics...

There's now a gap where I didn't take any pics. We did have a few weeks of hot and humid weather when the ink was taking forever to dry, so I think this was the reason...

I printed an edition of 6, on Hosho paper, and for one of the prints I tried the reverse, slightly rough side of the paper. You can see how the ink coverage is patchy (I don't have a relief press, these are printed using a baren and/or wooden spoon). Always useful to know!

Coverage was much better on the smoother side of the paper.

Finished print: Scrumptious succulents, reduction linocut, edition of 6 on Hosho paper with Caligo Safewash inks.