Linocut in Progress: In Which We Start Fussing With the Little Things

After all that green it's time to start defining the tree and bird a bit more, and to start balancing the values. Let's warm things up a bit with a reddish-brown

Reduction linocut in progress: Step 10 rollup

It's a bit of a relief (pun intended) to get this color pass down and see that everything is holding together okay. Promising! But of course I saw a teeny thing that I didn't like... 

Step 10 printed

The top edge of the horizontal branch on which the bird is perched is too dark and harsh. It's a little thing... but it bothers me, so I will fix it with some spot inking. Nothing complicated, just a semi-transparent white rolled over that little section.

Step 11 rollup

Comparison below: Step 10 on the top, Step 11 on the bottom:

Step 10 vs 11, printed

There's not a lot of material left on the block at this stage... but somehow there are still several steps left to go. 

I think I can finally move away from the background and add some more details in the foreground tree. I don't seem to have a rollup photo for the next step, but I'm willing to bet you can tell it was a slightly darker brown layer. 

Step 12 printed

And now Step 13! Again, a dark brown, this one a bit cooler in temperature, to bring out the last (???) bits of detail in the tree. 

Step 13 rollup

Step 13 printed... 

Okay. We're getting close now. Maybe. I want to darken the details of the bird's head just a wee bit. But will that be the end? 

Spoiler alert: Nope.