Pardalote on a Wire – Woodcut

‘Pardolote on a wire’ Linocut 260 x 360 mm Aug 13

I revisited my Pardelote linocut and redid it as a larger woodcut.  Really happy with how it worked out, now I have more idea of how this medium works.  I was able to add more detail into the background while still keeping the simplicity of the composition.  It was much harder to cut in wood and I had trouble with bits chipping off, though super glue helped to save his leg!

I will be adding colour to some of the prints, but I have such a busy month it may not be till September.  Here is the original drawing and the first print just for comparison.

Spotted Pardelote Lino Design

Pardalote Two colour print May 2013

This time I remembered to flip the design before transferring it onto the block.  See learning has occured.

Carving the Pardalote

Karen

Sturt Desert Pea Linocut 2

‘Dancing Peas’ Sturt Desert Pea 2 Linocut 617mm x 240mm July 2013

I have started my second printmaking course, this one is where I get to learn how to use the studio and print my own work.  Once I have completed this course I will be able to use the studio and print my work when ever I want.

I made this lino a few weeks ago on holidays, see the other Desert Pea post.  It is large of course, I don’t often do small works.  It was fairly difficult to get to print well, but I am pleased with it as it is only my third attempt at printing.

New Desert Pea
The lino being cut

It has been taken from a drawing I did in 2012 Sturt Desert Pea 2, this is one of my favorite works and I wanted to reuse the image again in a different medium and push it a bit further.  The image has been flipped in the printing process.

Sturt Desert Pea 2
Coloured Pencil & Acrylic
April 2012

I, of course, will be colouring in some of the prints and I am going to experiment with printing it on different papers and coloured backgrounds, so you will see this image in a number of different guises.

Although this print looks rather clean, I was far from it, some how in the course of the 2 .5 hours it took to print this lino, I manage to cover myself in ink.  As my hands were covered I unconsciously touched my face (a lot of times) and had been running around the studio with an almost black face.  My fellow students were most kind and didn’t laugh at me and only mentioned I had ink on my nose.  When I looked in the mirror I couldn’t stop laughing, it really was covered.  Lucky I checked before I walked out!

Karen

 

Blue Wren

Blue Wren Woodcut

This is my first ever woodcut, a little blue wren, sitting on an old fence post singing his heart out in the morning sun.  There was a family of blue wrens that lived on our property and spent the day ruffling through the gardens looking for tasty treats to eat.  They would come and watch you garden and sing and cheep away, such lovely companions.

This is the last print I did for my first relief printing class and it was a two colour wood cut.  This time instead of reduction we did a two plate print.  Again we had no choice in the second colour so not the colour I would have chosen.  But I see this as a draft for the second lot of prints that I am currently working on.  A short series of the birds that used to visit us on the property I used to live on in Castlemaine.

Blue Wren Woodcut

I enjoyed using the wood and really liked how the texture worked on the stump.  Lots to think about in how to use the grain of the wood in future work.  The wood also smells better than the lino.

Karen

Sturt Desert Pea Lino Cut

Sturt Desert Pea Hand coloured pencil

I have printed my Desert Pea Lino cut.  Very happy with my first lino cut in more than 20 years.  This was a single colour print in black, printed on a press and I have hand coloured this one with coloured pencils. Of course!  The press we printed it one was really lovely, a 1860s, huge wrought iron number with great big levers and gorgeous scroll work.  They don’t make them like that any more.

 

Here is an uncoloured one.  I went back and carved out the background for the next ones, for a bit of a different look.

Sturt Desert Pea Hand Printed

This one is hand printed so the colour is not so intense and the background has been carved out.

Sturt Desert Pea Hand Printed Rice paper

Again this was hand printed, but onto Japanese rice paper and the printed is much darker.  This I really love and will doing more of.  (The image is chopped off because I scanned it around the wrong way!!!, but you get the idea).

I am currently on a little holiday for a quick week off work while I have a moment in a very busy year.  Sitting at Deans March (behind Lorne on the Great Ocean Road), stunning beaches and forest, that would be rain forest as it has been raining constantly for the last 24 hours.  Still cosy inside my cottage with the wood fire, my little dog and new lino cutting tools and loads of lino and wood to cut.  Great Big Happy sigh.

Hannah ‘Sleepy head’

New Desert Pea lino

Bye Karen

 

Relief Printing with Linocuts

Spotted Pardelote Lino Design

I have started my relief printing course and have done the first two sessions.  So much fun!  It combines a whole stack of processes that I love and my style of art really lends itself to this medium.  You get to draw, carve, print and colour in, plus you have prints to keep, sell and give away.  Happy sigh.

We started out with a single colour linocut on a very rubbery lino, which was easy to carve.  especially as I have memories of trying to carve old, tough lino at school.  I used an image from a earlier drawing of the sturt desert peas, love recycling and trying images out in another way.

Sturt Desert Pea

We did another lino print using proper lino and it will be a two colour reduction print.  For this one a drew this lovely little pardelote, a tiny spotted bird that used to visit our property when I lived in Castlemaine.

Variations on Pardelote Design

As my prints are still drying at school I have my drawing to share with you, next week I will have images of the actual print to share.

Talk soon Karen