"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 10 April 2016

South Stack Lighthouse

Another linocut step by step, after doing wildlife subjects for the last couple of prints it's back to a straight forward landscape. Although as things turned out this was far from straightforward.

Step 1.

The areas to remain white are cut away from the block and a blend of warm grey to light blue rolled on the block and printed.




Step 2.

Another blended roll this time adding a light green to the bottom, then the warm grey and finally the blue at the top this time.



Step 3

A blend of 3 blues, sky blue at the top through to a greenish blue for the sea.



Step 4

A slightly darker version of the initial warm grey colour. Inked on to land areas of the print only.




Step 5

A pale green, again applied selectively to the block.


Step 6.

Another blend of blues.




Step 7

Now to add some details into the cliffs. Another darker version of the first warm grey colour with the addition of a little brown.




Step 8

Another darker blue to finish off the sea and add shadows onto the cliff face.



Step 9

The final dark -  made from the blue used above with the addition of a little purple.



and the finished print.

South Stack - Anglesey
Reduction Linocut
240mm x 360mm
Edition of 4

Really pleased with this print but it's execution turned out to be something of a disaster and at one point I didn't think I was going to get any use able prints at all. The 100lbs cartridge paper  I print on can usually be relied upon to stay flat throughout the printing process. This time, for reasons I can't explain it began to cockle after the second printing stage and by the fourth stage was becoming very difficult to use, causing real problems with the registration. In the end from an initial 10 impressions taken of the first colour I've finished with only 4 saleable prints.