Whilst I was in the printmaking mood over the half term holiday I felt inspired to do more lino printing. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems and I spent lots of time experimenting with different papers and methods of printing. Eventually I settled on a lovely grey paper that I had squirreled away in my plan chest, the smooth surface took the linseed oil based ink very well, sadly I did not make a note of the name of the paper. I used my old office press to print the piece and wondered why my arm ached so much afterwards. I now know why they say, “Hand pulled” when describing the printing process!
I happily filled the kitchen table and every other surface in the house with prints whilst my family fended for themselves. I found a low odour white spirit, which made the job more acceptable but did not realize how long each piece would take to dry; still, we live and learn.
I had a go at printing my wood engraving but decided to do a bit more tinkering with the block. You can see how it is looking so far in the photograph. As you can see the wood had irregularities, which I tried to disguise in the design. I was thrilled to bits with my new burnisher, which worked a treat on the block. If you have ever fancied having a try at wood engraving I would encourage you to do so. I was pleasantly surprised at how little pressure is needed to make a cut and so few materials and space are needed.
I have listed a lino print in my Etsy shop; I do love playing shop don’t you? Now sadly, playtime is over and it’s nose to the grindstone for the next few months.
