Linocut in Progress: Columbine in full bloom!

Oh, you should see Maine right now! It's ridiculously green. I spent most of my life in the high desert, and while we had our verdant moments and secret pockets of rich vegetation, it wasn't anything like this overwhelming wall of... just green... that we have here in the early summer.

There's been a lot of green in the studio for the last week, also. Once I had proved that the columbine linocut didn't need to be scrapped, I was anxious to get on with it. Naturally, the faster one wants to finish the slower the ink layers dry. It's a conspiracy, I swear.

Anyway... somehow we are at Step 10, and somehow I missed taking any photos of the ink rollup. I've been trying to take photos and video throughout the development of this linocut, so I can put together a video for the team at Ann Korologos Gallery. I was supposed to be in Colorado right now, as I mentioned before, and had a demo and artist talk on the gallery schedule. It's still going to happen... but now it will be virtual!

All of which is to say that I'm guessing the ink rollup was recorded in video and not photography, so you'll just have to imagine it. It was another blended roll... a darker and bluer green blended to a  darker and more olive-y green. Like this:

Reduction linocut, Step 10 printed

At this point I was really hoping the next color pass would pull the entire thing together, but I had my doubts. The background is a wee bit boring, but I don't want to go too crazy and have it interfere with the main subjects, the twin blooms. (Oooh... maybe that will be the title! Or not.) I also want to beef up the contrast with some darker values, but I don't want to go SO dark that the flowers appear washed out again.

Ink scraps saved in wax paper

Luckily I have plenty of ink with which to search for the appropriate colors. I think I've mentioned before that one of the reasons I still like to work with oil-based inks is that I can save leftover bits of color by wrapping them in wax paper. The ink scraps will usually stay viable for several weeks this way, and I often use "leftovers" from a previous color pass as a base for mixing new colors.  For Step... hm... 11 (!!!) I started with the leftovers from Step 10 and added in some leftovers from the previous black scoter print! Because that's how I (ahem) roll. (See what I did there?)

Step 11 rollup

Step 11 printed

At this stage I put a little video clip of the reveal on my Instagram feed and asked the question, "Is it finished or is it ain't?" Most people seemed to think it was finished, but you know me! I felt it need just a little more interest in the background and some small darker bits in the stems and leaves.

Ugh. Step 12.

Back to the ink scraps to mix up this strange green-brown... very transparent.

I had to squeeze in "just one more color" of course. Step 12 ink rollup.

Yes. That's what it needed. NOW it's finished.

Columbine, reduction linocut, 6" x 8" Edition size? Probably 18, I still have to sort them.
This image is slightly embiggenable with a click.

I'm not sure what's up next in the studio. I need to take some time now to work on the video of this image, plus I still have plenty of work to do for my online course. And I need to develop a virtual field sketching class for the Farnsworth Museum. Yikes. That's a lot of a whole other kind of thinking! Best get started.