Lockdown printing

This work started before lockdown, but was only completed well into that time here in England. A multiblock linocut on Chinese rice paper that I called Dance of Hope. The central figure is in the Nataraja pose against a Sikkimese endless knot. This was a Bhudist symbol we saw everywhere in Sikkim in February, a time which seems a life time ago, but was only earlier this year. Hand burnished with a wooden spoon, this is the largest print I have made to date. Until I put the final black layer on, I thought it was a complete failure, the colours just didn’t contrast enough. But with the black it just worked. I only produced about five as hand burnishing is really slow and the paper is very fragile.

One copy is framed at the top of our stairs.

Back to printing

I haven’t printed for a while, so decided to have a go at creating a print from one of the sketches I did out on the Bass Rock.

I redrew the selected part of the sketch, adding a bit here and there. Then transferred this in reverse to a lime wood block and started carving a basic key block drawing. I’ve had this lime for years and wanted to use it. Lovely to work in, but a tendency for unintended bits to chip out.

I took a couple of proofs onto cartridge paper, and coloured it up to get an idea of the finished work. I decided to cut out the hatched shading. Not sure now that was the best idea.

I cut two more blocks for head and pebble colours and shading. I used lino simply because I didn’t have any more lime. I’ve proofed the three blocks onto Somerset paper. Quite pleased with the outcome, but the are several tweaks to the carving needed before I do a final edition. I think I’ll run off about 10.

Japanese woodcut

I’ve just completed an excellent two day workshop at Ardington School Of Crafts run by Laura Boswell. An introduction to Japanese woodblock printing. An art form I love but I have never tackled before.

I started with an image of pine trees falling into the sea on the end of Furzey Island in Poole Harbour. I photographed it last week and even did a sketch of it in charcoal whilst sitting cross legged on the roof of my boat.

Laura took us through the stages of breaking the design down into blocks which would build up the image. These are carved on both sides of the wood block and coloured using horse hair brushes, watercolour paint and rice paste.

The blocks are printed onto damp paper, using a baren to burnish the back. I produced several multicoloured images and a final, fairly rushed one just in blue, which is very traditional.

It’s a fascinating technique. These results aren’t that great, but they are a starting point. Hokusai, here I come…

More lino cuts

Had a second go at a lino cut. I have looked at some videos on the web, which are of mixed use. One had a very good idea of gluing the lino to a plywood blank. This makes it much more stable and easy to use. 

I worked on a series of sketches for something a bit more more original this time, working on my usual plan that if you don’t know what to draw, a naked woman usually works. After several sketches I came up with a dancing girl, whose geometry I quite liked. This had to be traced and transferred in reverse to the block for cutting. I have got the lines too thick in this case. I went for a simple white outline for this attempt, which minimises the cutting. 

I have run off a number of prints on some strange, thin Japanese paper I have had kicking around for a long time. 

Can you spot the block amongst the prints? 

Very hard to get a consistent ink coverage. I like the ones where the body is slightly faded. This seemed to happen if I rubbed down the body with my fingers and the background  with a hard spoon.