"The artist...is also a born adventurer. His explorations, unlike those of a tourist, are rewarded by the discovery of beauty spots unmentioned in the guide books, and with tireless curiosity and an exceptional proneness to wonderment, he will come upon objects of remarkable interest overlooked or even shunned by more disciplined observers."

Augustus John, R.A.




Sunday 27 September 2015

The moment of truth




 After working on this mezzotint plate on and off for the last couple of months it's time to see what we have.


The messy bit


 

Wiping the plate



Ready to print



Well we've got something. For a first proof I'm quite happy with this. It's still too dark and needs a lot more work on it, but at this stage it's better to be too dark than too light.

Thursday 24 September 2015

Ancient Oak Tree


Into the gathering dusk
Reduction Linocut
Edition of 9
251mm x 360mm

With the addition of the final dark the print is finished. 13 colours printed  in 8 stages

Thursday 17 September 2015

Almost there

Continuing with the latest print. The next colour is a dark orange for the wheatfield.


the inked block


and printed.

The next colour is another blend from greenish grey through to a brighter green.
The inked block


and printed


A bit more cutting and another blend from grey to darker green.
The inked block


and printed.


So far counting all the colours used in the blends I've put down 12 colours in 7 stages. One final bit of cutting and a last dark will finish the print.

Saturday 5 September 2015

New Print

The start of a new print. A small patch of lino cut away to remain white and the block is ready for printing. Not really given any thought to the colour palette yet as much will depend on the first printing as this is going to set the atmosphere for the whole print.


Block inked up with a blend from dark grey through orange to yellow.


and printed.


The next stage involved some complicated cutting to remove the bulk of the sky


and then a small patch of blue inked up

 
and printed.


The blue patch on the block was removed and another blend from blue grey to orange inked up across the bottom of the block


and printed.

Next the block was carved to add some detail into the wheatfield and inked up with a blue grey to light green blend.


and printed.


The intention was to get this print finished in time for next weeks Wirksworth Arts Festival weekend but from this point the carving is likely to be quite time consuming and I don't want to rush it just for the sake of trying to get the print finished.