We now join this linocut already in progress

It's a wee bit crazy around here. I have illustration jobs for three different clients on the table, plus a commission project, a website redesign, and all my year-end paperwork/tax prep in progress.

So of course all I want to do is print. I've been sneaking in a little printing between all this other stuff, but neglected to take any photos. Sorry, but I'm bringing you in to the loop here at Step 3... the fourth color is ready to go, maybe today.

Aspen leaf linocut in progress. Step 3

This linocut-in-progress represents a biggish step for Presston and me. So far all of the reduction prints we have done together have been 8 x 10 inches. This one is 12 x 18, which more or less represents the full reach of what I can comfortably print by hand. (I have done larger pieces, but not often.) So far I'm not having any problems, other than some rather extensive transfer of the Sharpie pen I used to draw the image. It's a puzzle, because I made a point to scrub the block before the first printing, but I'm not too worried about it. The places where it's most obnoxious will all be covered by dark ink as the image progresses.

The carving is finished for Step 4, but I'm undecided about the next color to print! I have one more pale-but-clear color to go, a rosy-orange that I tried to get to at this stage, but didn't quite achieve. (The color I printed was a bright transparent pink, but not enough to overcome the two yellows underneath.) I don't want to resort to opaque color just yet, I want to maintain the luminosity of transparent ink as long as possible.

My other option is to print a transparent gray overall and then build other colors on top. I'm leaning towards trying one more time to rosy things up as is and then doing the gray, we'll see what I decide.