Linocut on the Xcut

I have continued having fun with the Xcut and trying to improve my cutting marks. I have bought some new Calico Safe Wash inks and I only had a tin of black left from a long time ago and it had formed a skin (this is apparently a well known hazard). I have used Soft Cut and now some Japanese Vinyl, which I like.

I have been going to a weekly drawing class and so decided to use some of my sketches as linocut inspiration.

Drawing scanned and reversed; I have given them each a flower for fun.

Original block

Trying to roll on two colours.

Then some cheat images, taking the prints into Icolorama app and changing the colours and background. Just for the fun of it.

Gelli,lino and Stitch

I had another go at linocut with a gelli plate background. I also cut out some pieces and added some stitch, easy to take it to the sewing machine as I was working on strong watercolour paper.

 I decided that rubbing with the back of a spoon works better for me than using the Speedball baren.

In the one below I added some bling, which is not usually my thing.I cut out the image and added it to

a piece of my handmade paper with machine stitch.

Lino cut

On Saturday I went to an afternoon workshop on Mark Making with Lino cut . It was run by Susan Yeates of Magenta-Sky. I found the course via Hot Courses following an internet search. I have had a few goes at lino cuts over the years and haven’t really liked it but after doing a repeat print of one of my drawings from a recent art class I thought it would be good to learn more about the process. That print worked on fabric with acrylics(apparently not really the done thing,I don't know why), is now my new apron.

 This workshop was better than previous attempts I think because it focused on learning something about the basic marks and ideas of how a shape can be interpreted in different ways. It was well organized and was well attended with fourteen people in the upstairs room of the Electric Theatre in Guildford. It was also very reasonably priced.

As you can see, I would need a lot of practise to make acceptable prints and I also need to read Susan’s book to find out how to register my prints. It is an enjoyable process, despite being hard work, and is one that can be done at home with minimal equipment and mess. I say hard work because we all pretty much agreed that it is hard on the hands and the back  - the lady next to me kept sighing which I told her made me feel better, as it summed up how I was feeling. There was a lot to do in a short time.