Linocut in Progress: Daisies in final bloom

Hey look! There's a pile of green ink on the glass! But don't worry, I didn't use any green pigment to make it. It's composed entirely of leftover scraps of the earlier blue and yellow inks. 

For the background I wanted plenty of variety, and to suggest that the upper portion of the image is farther back. The blend appears distinctly blue and green in the rollup, but on the block it was less effective:

"Daisies," reduction linocut, Step 9

I printed it anyway, because although it doesn't show well in the photo, there IS a decent temperature change of cool-to-warm, top to bottom.

But it was definitely time to stop tiptoeing around and get some stronger tones in there. Anyone who follows me on Instagram saw this little tease the other night:

Which resulted in this:

"Daisies," reduction linocut, step 10

Suggestion of leaves, and a more pronounced temperature and value change from top to bottom. Quite satisfying. Sadly this was Step 10, so I didn't quite make the goal of keeping this print to ten or fewer passes, but it's close.

Step 11 was also a blended roll. I intensified the "midnight" blue from the previous pass and blended it to an olive green. The olive green was a result of mixing scraps of previous transparent blues and burnt sienna. Dopey me didn't take a photo so you'll have to take my word that the roll-out was lovely.

"Daisies," reduction linocut, final step (11)

And here it is! All finished. I'm pleased with the composition, and with the range of light and dark values, but what I am most satisfied with is the range of greens created without using one drop of a pre-mixed green ink. Most of the greens were, in fact, created with layers of the same transparent blue. (In this case pthalo blue from my stash of no-longer-manufactured Daniel Smith relief inks.)

So what's next? I want to do one more small flower piece, although I don't have the subject sorted yet. And then I need to get cranking on a slightly larger piece for an upcoming deadline. But FIRST I have to prepare a demo for this:

(click on the image to embiggen it to a readable size).

My demo is scheduled from 2:00-4:00. Come on out if you're in the Loveland area next weekend. Directions to and information about Artworks Loveland are here. The Colorado Governor's Show continues through May 29.

Linocut in Progress: An Ode* to Transparent Blue

The daisies move from gold to green,
Yet of green ink no sign is seen.

Transparent blue, of course is used,
To shift us into other hues.

Daisies, reduction linocut, Step 6

A good result I do confess,
Yet more must roll before we rest.

Another pass with see-through blue,
Creates a greener green, 'tis true.

Daisies, reduction linocut, Step 7

But wait! It is not quite enough,
This print's still diamond in the rough.

Transparent blue again applied,
It's taking us on quite a ride.

Daisies, reduction linocut, Step 8

A day or two we must now wait,
For ink to dry and plans create.

(*With apologies to real poets, who will no doubt point out that while this may be an ode thematically, structurally it's more like couplets. And not very good ones at that.)

Linocut in Progress: Back to the daisies

'Tis the season when I find myself on the road about every ten days or so... not particularly conducive to building up momentum in the studio.

This past weekend I was in the southeastern corner of the state, Lamar, Colorado, for the annual convention of the Colorado Field Ornithologists. It was fun to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in a while, and of course to put a few bird linos into the hands of actual birders.

But yesterday it was back to work... HOORAY!

The first order of business was to adjust the yellow that I printed last week. It felt a wee bit too green, which wasn't a surprise since it was printed over the top of blues.

Here's the adjusted color next to the original. You can see the change was pretty subtle... color temperature, but not color value.

Here's a bigger version of the corrected yellow:

Daisies, reduction linocut, Step 4

Most of the flower centers will remain this color, but a couple of them are in shadow and a few have slightly different color around the edges. This looks like a job for Transparent Blue.

A rollup so pale....

This shot was taken at the end of the printing session. The remaining blue ink has been scraped into a pile, so it looks dark... but the block and the roller both have ink on them, so you can see how transparent the color really is. (Or not see it, as the case may be.)

Here's another side-by-side for this step:

And a larger version of the print at this stage:

Daisies, reduction linocut, Step 5

Lookin' good! The next step will remove more of the flower centers (particularly the ones in shadow) and then it's stems, leaves, and background. Might pull this one off in 10 steps. Maybe. Possibly. Could be. Or not.