Linocut in Progress: Inside Out and Backwards

It's amazing how quickly things change. Just over a week ago I was finding it hard to get anything done because I was distracted by the looming specter of too many projects and not enough time.  Now it's absolutely the other way around, with workshops, travel, and exhibitions being cancelled or postponed left and right. I'm still distracted, but for totally different reasons. I don't know about you, but global pandemic was definitely not on my A-list of Imminent Challenges.

Still, relief printmakers are no strangers to thinking inside out and backwards. I know I'll feel better if I get some work done, so I've launched a new linocut. Naturally it's already turning out not to be particularly straightforward. Which does seem to be a worldwide theme just now.

The image calls for three little blobs of yellow, widely spaced on the page. Yay! Yellow! A bright and cheery color in an otherwise rather gray week (both literally and figuratively).

There's also going to be a lot of blue. Goodness knows I don't need the interference of yellow in blue... so before any lino was carved I found myself cutting little newsprint masks. Like this:

Newsprint masks

Ink mixed, masks cut... I spot inked two areas of the block. Like so:

Yellow spot-inked on the block

And then I carefully placed my newsprint masks. Like this:

Spot ink, masks in place

And I printed this thoroughly exciting start:

Step 1 printed. Exciting, isn't it?

The best part about that step was how fast it was to clean up. 

You've probably been able to suss out the subject by careful scrutiny of the photos above. If you haven't... well... I'm not going to tell you yet. Give me at least a little bit of fun here.

Step 2 printed. Slightly embiggenable if you need more clues.

As usual, the photography of this step leaves a lot to be desired. But basically it's just a transparent gray printed over the entire block. And just like magic I now have white, gray, and two shades of yellow on my image. Nifty.

There's not a lot of carving to do before the next color pass, but I'm debating the use of another round of masks. This time they would shield small areas from ink rather than define a space for ink. Maybe. Possibly. Or maybe I can just plow forward without masking. It's all a big question mark right now... but at least it's the sort of question mark for which I feel confident I can find an answer.