The fen owl

It's been a while, but at last I've made a new reduction linocut print, based on the short-eared owls at Burwell Fen...

A bit rough and ready I feel, think I need to get back into some regular printmaking!

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.

Hedgerow gold

A reduction linocut

'Hedgerow gold' is a reduction linocut inspired by bright crab apples in a dark hedgerow; sometimes I spot a blackbird amongst the branches...

And here are some of the sketches and prep for the print. The idea was swimming around in my head for quite a while...

P is for pea

This is my contribution to the Linocut Alphabet group on Facebook...

Hare linocut

Here's a new linocut print, based on a pic I took when out watching hares down the farm track. I've been in a bit of a creative hole for a while, so I thought I'd keep this simple, a one-colour print. Though I will now go and try out some different colours too!

5 by 5 and a half inches approx, on Hosho paper.

Moonlight hare

Here's my latest reduction linocut print, inspired by the hares in the fields around here - Moonlight hare.

Hope you like him!

Spring arrival at Wicken Fen

My latest print, a reduction linocut: Spring arrival at Wicken Fen. The swallows are starting to arrive, spring is here and summer can't be far away!

Reduction linocut on Zerkall 210gsm paper using Caligo Safewash inks.

Crocuses linocut

Hello! Here's another small reduction linocut print, to go with my snowdrops and winter aconites...

Printed area is 2.5 by 4.5 inches approx, and it's printed with Caligo Safewash inks on Zerkall 210gsm paper.

Spring is here

I'm really not very good at promoting/marketing stuff, but here's a quick look at what's available in my Folksy shop - a hint of Spring...

Winter aconites linocut

Here's another little linocut, to go with my earlier snowdrops print - this in Winter Aconites, such cheerful little flowers at the end of winter!

Snowdrops linocut

Hello again! Here's a small two-colour reduction linocut, inspired by the snowdrops currently gracing my garden.

It's still cold but it feels like winter is on the way out...

My latest linocut - lapwings

Here's what I've been up to over the past couple of weeks - a three-colour reduction linocut.

If anyone can come up with a better title than 'Lapwings', please do let me know!

Linocut lizards...

I enjoyed a fab lino printing workshop a couple of weeks ago with local printmaker Nina Sage (http://www.ninasage.co.uk/workshops - you can see me lurking in some of the photos!) Here's what I did and have been working on since...

 

This first one is the 'key' block - the image printed in black. It's based on a pic I took in France.

 Next is the image printed onto a monoprinted background. Back home I carved a second block so I could add some body colour,  and printed onto more monoprint backgrounds. I can see I am going to have fun with the colours here!

Kerry Hill duo

First linocut of 2014, hurray! I decided to keep it simple. This is based on a pic I took last year at the local agricultural show, of two rather smart Kerry Hill Sheep.

Printed area is 6 by 8 inches. Might print this in another colour as well, blue maybe. We'll see!

Window ledge snooze

This is a reduction linocut print I did a few months back, for some reason I've only just got round to getting a pic of it! Based on a sketch of the studio assistant snoozing in the sunshine on the windowsill...

  Printed area 4 by 6", on Simili paper.

The silent owl

Working on another card design, quite like this one :-) An earlier attempt along these lines came out as 'evil scary owl', but this one is much more benign!

Linocut on 5 by 5" card stock.

The dynamic duo gets some shuteye

Hello again! Here's what I've been up to over the last couple of weeks - a reduction linocut based on the ink & wc sketch from a while ago of my pal's two dogs snuggled up together.

'The dynamic duo gets some shuteye', reduction linocut, printed area 6" by 8".

The gang

Yay, another linocut print! Inspired by the hordes (yes, there are loads of them) of long-tailed tits that descend on our bird feeders, here's my take on just a few of them...

These guys are definitely the cutest. They seem to go around in large groups - we regularly get at least half a dozen on the feeders, and I could hear more cheeping away in the shrubs...

Print area is 6 by 8 inches, and these are on Zerkall 210gsm paper using Caligo safe wash oil-based ink, an edition (so far) of 8. I've run out of this particular paper, so I might just print a few more on the Simili Japanese paper, which is a lighter weight and creamier paper, to see how they look!

Linocut workshop at the Curwen Print Study Centre

The last of the workshops I did was linocut - on familiar ground at least! Although I use this technique at home, I wanted to try out the oil-based inks and, of course, the press...

I had an image from my sketchbook that I thought might be good for a linocut. We used linoleum floor tiles (great idea, not too expensive!). Tried a few colour combinations, as well as masking the bird and printing the colours separately.

If you feel like having a go at printmaking, I would highly recommend a Curwen workshop - great fun, steep learning curve, lots to think about!

Happy me!

Ten fabulous prints from the first PrintPeople exchange have arrived here! They are just wonderful, made my day :-)


You can check out all of the prints in detail here