Progress
Went into the studio yesterday to start printing up the Marioceris nintendi linocuts.
Got as far as printing the first and second stage blocks but not the final block. Turns out mixing your own inks takes forever, plus I was fighting a bit with driers and extenders and whatnot. It's the first time I've tried a three stage reduction print; after the Polyphylla megaloceros prints came out OK I felt a bit more confident about registration.
I reckon I might get up to 6 nicely registered prints per colour, but I'm not banking on it. Pretty pleased with how they're shaping up so far though.
I can see a couple of things wrong but overall I think I'm improving - my cutting is much more confident and the wonky lines I was getting are becoming less frequent. I've started going to the unsupervised open studio sessions. It's quite nice to work around actual pros! There were a few people there yesterday working on this year's studio box set, which is Titanic-themed. Some awesome printing going on, one lady was working on a woodcut, one on a linocut and another chap on an aquatint. All very exciting! Unfortunately I fell over on my way out and now have a giant bruise on my ass. Was a bit scary, I fell in a lot of mud and was covered... my hands appeared to be covered in blood and mud and I panicked a bit... only to find out when I got home that the blood was actually printing ink. D'oh.
I've booked a few weekend courses for this year so I keep up momentum: so far I've signed up for wood engraving, caustic etched lino and drypoint. SO MUCH FUN.
Got as far as printing the first and second stage blocks but not the final block. Turns out mixing your own inks takes forever, plus I was fighting a bit with driers and extenders and whatnot. It's the first time I've tried a three stage reduction print; after the Polyphylla megaloceros prints came out OK I felt a bit more confident about registration.
I reckon I might get up to 6 nicely registered prints per colour, but I'm not banking on it. Pretty pleased with how they're shaping up so far though.
I can see a couple of things wrong but overall I think I'm improving - my cutting is much more confident and the wonky lines I was getting are becoming less frequent. I've started going to the unsupervised open studio sessions. It's quite nice to work around actual pros! There were a few people there yesterday working on this year's studio box set, which is Titanic-themed. Some awesome printing going on, one lady was working on a woodcut, one on a linocut and another chap on an aquatint. All very exciting! Unfortunately I fell over on my way out and now have a giant bruise on my ass. Was a bit scary, I fell in a lot of mud and was covered... my hands appeared to be covered in blood and mud and I panicked a bit... only to find out when I got home that the blood was actually printing ink. D'oh.
I've booked a few weekend courses for this year so I keep up momentum: so far I've signed up for wood engraving, caustic etched lino and drypoint. SO MUCH FUN.