The Art of creating a print!

Moving from an idea to a working composition to a print

Getting an idea down on paper can be hard enough. What you see in your mind may not actually work as a composition never mind be possible as a print. The time put into preliminary sketches of ideas pays dividends on creating a successful print. By that, I mean a print that works artistically and aesthetically; I have not even considered commercially!

If I start cutting the block too early I start to come across unresolved spaces or shapes and either the print does not work, or I spend a silly length of time contriving an extra block or colour to try to solve the problem!

The sketch above was made using Indian ink and a brush!. It was made in response to “the last dog walk of the day” at 10pm

You can see here the photo I took on the right and you have already seen the Indian Ink painting at the top. The left-hand image is a one plate linocut. The key block as it is known. It has the detail and I will offset that lino block onto another piece of lino to allow me to cut another layer of the image- a mid-tone. This will help me to fill in the blanks and create the shadows on the road. I think the very under block will be the third piece of lino which will have the moon on it and the rest of that will be uncarved but will be rolled ink onto the lino to create a textured tone which is pale but there- Autumn and Halloween ghostliness. Hopefully, you will be able to see the finished print in the shop and gallery by next month! You can judge for yourself whether the print works and if my preparation paid off!