Step 11: I hit the whole block with another transparent blue-to-brown blend.
 |
| Reduction linocut in progress, Step 11 |
It seemed close to finished at this stage, but I didn't like that the background color seemed to divide straight across the horizontal center of the image. It felt... ungraceful. And I wanted just a wee bit more dark.
Much hemming and hawing ensued, and then much carving, and then.... much color mixing.
 |
| The final color. Finally. |
Some days I can hit the right combination of hue and transparency quickly and everything moves ahead smoothly. SOME days, however, are like today. It probably took me close to an hour to get this color right. I started with scraps of the previous blues and browns and made what I thought was the perfect sort of licorice green. (LOTR fans: the color of Aragorn's coat.)
Nope. Too transparent.
I added some blue. Too blue! I added some black and then printed. Too dark! I took part of the too-dark color and added it to transparent base. Close, but too black. More green. More blue. Print. Tweak the color again. Argh!
Eventually I hit on this rich blue-green-black color and just the right amount of transparency. Unfortunately that big blob in the foreground of the photo is the wrong color... and I've got a lot of it. But perhaps I'll find a place for it in another print.
In the meantime... finished.
 |
| Step 12, final. As-yet-untitled reduction linocut, 12" x 12" |
Of course, I'm discovering that greens are just as annoying to photograph as blues, but this shot is fairly close. Embiggenable with a click, and ready to find a title. Whew!
The blue-green-black color really made ll the other colours stand out :D
ReplyDeletehmmm obvs the next one will have to have a lot of the big blob colour in it ;)
Yes, I shall have to title it "Revenge of the Blob," or something like that, eh?
DeleteStunning, again! This is so delicate, i love it. I can now see where I'm going wrong with mine..... I don't have the drawing skill, cutting patience and ink mixing know-how to come anywhere close to achieving something as beautiful as this ! Still, the studio is nearly finished, so I might be able to start playing again soon :-D. Bravo, Sherrie. X
ReplyDeleteEh, like everything else it just takes practice, Julie! I'm so envious of your almost-finished studio space! I can't wait to see what comes out of it. :-)
DeleteAmazing how you've captured so many tones of green. Hard to do with man made colors. Gorgeous work
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jen. And what's really fun is that I only squeezed out maybe two teaspoons of green ink once in the entire process. I mixed the first color with green ink, and everything that came after was based on the leftover ink scraps. Most of these last greens were achieved with transparent blues and browns. :-)
DeleteVery nice. What a process! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Susan. Thanks for taking the time to follow along.
DeleteThanks Sherrie. What a Learning FUN time it has been. Thank you so much for your Instruction and generosity. OK - am off to cut some red colour patches on the Firetails.... so far so good. :-]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]
ReplyDeleteRed patches on Firetails... that sounds intriguing! Thanks for following along with the chaos here!
DeleteWhat inks do you use Sherrie? I love the transparent effects.
ReplyDeleteFunny story, that. I use a LOT of Graphic Chemical transparent litho base (1911) and very little pigmented ink. I'm still working largely from a stash of no-longer-manufacturer Daniel Smith oil-based relief inks, but I've been experimenting with Gamblin and Cranfield as replacements. (I'm out of DS yellow and white, so those have been my first efforts for replacement.)
Delete