It’s #Caturday Saturday again and here that little block I cut last week, printed in black with a touch of gold foil chine collé highlighting the moon. The foil is from sweets (candies); there are fewer manufacturers making them these days, I find them in upmarket retailers and traditional old-fashioned sweet shops.
Category Archives: Printmaking
A Mari Lwyd Trio
I carved this Mari Lwyd vinyl block a couple of years ago and now and again I have a bit of a play with it. These three are printed with chine collé, which is a way of adding colour without cutting and printing lots of blocks. I’ve used lovely foils from sweets, there are stillContinue reading “A Mari Lwyd Trio”
The Cornflour Trick!
I’ve seen this trick on social media, using cornflour to take a look at a carved lino block, to see if it’s ready or needs more cutting. This is the first time I’ve tried it and it works! Yeah! I can see one or two bits on the cat block where I might do aContinue reading “The Cornflour Trick!”
Proofing A Portrait Print
I transferred my portrait drawing to a block of traditional grey lino this week, carved it and took the first proof print from it. I’m quite pleased with the resule. I’m being very strict with time and I did this process from the first pencil mark on paper, through 9 drawings, carving the block andContinue reading “Proofing A Portrait Print”
Winter Cat
I’ve got a community arts teaching session coming up this week, we’ll be doing Xmas / Winter-themed lino cuts. I’m getting one prepared in advance, I’ve drawn the design onto a piece of traditional grey lino, ready to cut. This traditional material is made from linseed oil, pine resin and wood flour onto a juteContinue reading “Winter Cat”
Transfer And Carve
Last week I did a series of portrait drawings at Swansea Print Workshop’s Life Drawing Group. I chose the best likeness, the last drawing as it happened, and I transferred it to a block of traditional grey lino and then started carving. The drawings took 2.5 hours, the transfer about 15 minutes and so farContinue reading “Transfer And Carve”
Reusing Sweet Papers
Today I did a bit of preparation for printing. It’s a technique called chine collé, where you put colour into a print using pieces of fine paper (tissue, mulberry etc…) or foils. I used the polished wooden spoon to burnish the foils – they’re recycled from sweets and biscuits so they’re crinkly and I wantContinue reading “Reusing Sweet Papers”
A Cyanotype Pigeon
A cyanotype pigeon because…well, why not? The original is a little sketch I did into my sketchbook. I scanned into my computer and reversed it into a negative in Adobe Photoshop. Then I printed it onto a sheet of acetate and used it to make the cyanotype in an exposure unit. I used Bockingford paperContinue reading “A Cyanotype Pigeon”
Pencils First
After the mess I made of my last pair of legs (a drawing, not actually my gams), I sketched out the next pair in pencil, instead of going straight in with a ballpoint pen. I’ll sleep on it and when I’m happy with the pencilling, I’ll work it up in ink. These legs are partContinue reading “Pencils First”
A Silver Anniversary
This year is the 25th anniversary of the opening of Swansea Print Workshop, where I spend many happy hours drawing and making prints, usually linocuts or woodcuts but also sometimes etchings and screenprints. It’s a great facility for artists across South Wales and it’s entirely run by the members who are the artists who useContinue reading “A Silver Anniversary”