Gannet linocut: Moving ahead

When last we left our linocut-in-progress we had a sense of northern gannets in a gray background. Like this:

Step 5

The underwing shadows in the foreground bird needed a little more oomph, so on went another grayish layer.

Steps 5 and 6 together

It doesn't seem like much, but it helped give some dimension to the critter in question.

Step 6

In fact, it might have been a little TOO much in the foreground bird's upper wing. I decided the big dark shape was too flat, but what to do about it? I fussed around with several possibilities and in the end opted to make just a small transition between the "wingpit" and the secondary feathers. I cut another mask to make certain my ink only went where I wanted it.

Why, yes... this ink IS lighter than the last pass. A case of having to think inside-out... this time carving away what I wanted to remain the dark already printed.

Step 7

The difference is small, but enough that I don't feel distracted by that big shape.

Time to get started on the background.