So, after two and a half months of research, preparation, creative blocks, blood, sweat and a lot of hard work, I finally finished carving my very large block of wood and did the first print. And breathe! The block has been sealed with three coats of shellac and methylated spirits (mixed 50:50) and I am using a Japanese lightweight paper, Hosho, in white for the main print and mulberry papers in red and blue for chine collé. The ink is Caligo / Cranfield’s Safe Wash and I’m taking the print by hand with Japanese barens.
I inked up mostly in black with some words picked out in red that I did with a different roller. I also prepared and applied mulberry chine collé. Then Husb lent me a hand to put the Hosho paper onto the block and to rub the back with the Japanese barens.
And here it comes. The first proof. The rest will be revealed in the New Year 😀 This is a commission for the Sky Art 50 programming which is scheduled for March 2019.
scribblah 
Fantastic!
Thank you 🙂
Nice site Rosie, did you design it yourself?
Andrue
Hi Andrew. Thank you. I used an off-the-shelf WordPress site to start with then my husband upgraded it.
Fabulous work!
Thank you 😊
mind labyrinth
That’s absolutely awesome! Did the blood influence the color shift? So happy for you!!
Yes, it gave me the idea to do selective inking lol 😁
Yea! Looking great!
Cheers 😀
Congrats Rosie, what a great project, looking forward to seeing the finished print, from what I can see it looks fab!
I’m waiting to hear if the TV company will let me reveal it before the programme goes out in March. It’s already causing controversy 😀