It’s Caturday Saturday

It’s Saturday Caturday and here’s Sparta Puss asleep on my Flexcut cutting tools. She wasn’t too impressed that I was getting on with some art stuff and not giving her enough attention (enough is never enough!) so she subverted me!

Graphite Not Messiness.

I’ve nearly finished cutting this little lino block and I want to check how it’s getting on, without inking it up. Instead, I used a graphite block and pieces of tissue paper and took rubbings of different bits of the lino. It gives me a pretty good idea of what else needs to be done,Continue reading “Graphite Not Messiness.”

Laid Out Ready …

I did some more cutting into my little lino block this afternoon. I laid it out on the bench hook before I began, with my smallest Flexcut gouge, the Flexcut Strop and Flexcut Gold Polishing Compound.

Testing The Progress…

When I’m carving a lino block I like to check on it’s progress regularly. I do this by taking a rubbing with a piece of white paper and a block of graphite. Still a lot of cutting to do on this one though.

Cutting Ideas …

While I was developing ideas for my recent prints about the Miner’s Wives in the Miner’s Strike (1984-1985) I drew sections of my ink and wash sketches onto small pieces of lino, to practice cutting different textures and effects. I haven’t tried doing such complex images into lino before, I usually work with very starkContinue reading “Cutting Ideas …”

FINISHED!

Pulled a couple of long sessions down at Swansea Print Workshop yesterday and this evening to finish these two before the deadline tomorrow – linocut on the left and screenprint on the right. Was supposed to do them last week but had an accident and got concussion! Never mind, all done. Now I need aContinue reading “FINISHED!”

Checking ….

I’m cutting a lot of text, back to front, into traditional grey lino for my latest print. It’s not easy so I regularly use tracing paper to check that I’m doing it right. I put the tracing paper onto the area I want to check and rub it with a block of 2B Graphite soContinue reading “Checking ….”

The First Cuts.

I’ve started cutting into the lino block about the Miner’s Wives that I have been designing for what seems like ages! I really want to get this right, though. It contains a lot of text, which is really hard to cut, especially backwards. Here are the first cuts.

The Transfer.

I’m doing a couple of prints inspired by the Welsh Miner’s Wives in the strikes of 1984-1985. I’ve finalised the content for the linocut and today transferred the drawing and text – backwards – onto a 30×30 cms block of soft grey hessian-backed lino. I sharpened my tools (Flexcut) on the leather slip strop andContinue reading “The Transfer.”

Grym : Power.

The rough hewn cut-marks gouged into the lino form cloisons that enclose shiny jewels of metallic watercolours. The block is printed in the deepest black oil-based ink onto a Japanese HoSho paper and when dry, watercolour paints are applied with the finest Isabey squirrel brushes. I’ve been working on a collaborative project with the multi-disciplinaryContinue reading “Grym : Power.”