Having done Ian Phillips ‘ fantastic Reduction Linoprint course at the end of last year in Machynlleth, (resulting in the prodution of several versions of the ‘lino rhino’…see below)
I decided to attempt another piece of work to explore the technique further and get to grips with how I can use it with my own work….thinking about the relationships between painting, linoprint and glass.
I’ve been looking at crewel embroidery for a while now with its stylised, simplified forms, and used one of these as a start point for a reduction linoprint.
Somewhat ambitiously, I now realise, I planned out a 300mm x 300mm, 7 layer print using the bare paper as a white layer, adding yellow, orange, pale blue, green, mid-blue, red and dark blue. It has resulted in a rich and layered result that I enjoy and will explore further in future prints. The image galleries below show the work in progression over several days, starting with a very enjoyable 2-day studio session with fellow glass artist, Sonia Hawking.
The prints are now drying and will be for sale: mounted (£125), and/or mounted and framed in solid oak (£165). When the prints are ready, I will post an image of each print individually so you can choose the exact one that you want….as well as some images of the frame option.
Layer 1 – Yellow Base
Layers 2-5 :Orange/Light Blue/Green/Mid-Blue
Reduction linoprinting involves the cutting back of the lino with each successive layer of printing, leading to the eventual removal of nearly all the original surface. This enables multi-layered prints with (exact) registration, but also means you can’t go back and do it again….so in this edition of 11 prints I experimented with colours and how one underneath affected the one overlaid. I have ended up with 11 similar but distinctly individual prints from the same block…….which appeals to me as a maker of predominantly one-off pieces the rest of the time….
Layers 6+(Unexpectedly) 7 : Red and ….Red
So, by the time I got here I was struggling to keep adding layers as I liked each successive image as it appeared!! However the plan in place was to add red which I did. I ended up adding two distinct tones of red on each print to make some lighter and some darker before the final defining layer of dark blue
Layer 8: Dark Blue
The darkest and defining layer, addding the deepest tones. Some of the prints have pure blue on them whilst others graduate towards a deep purple. One of the many useful tips from Ian’s course was to avoid black in prints and to go for dark tones of colours instead. Wise words!
