The Woods Awakening

An illustration of spring and the dawn chorus.  I made this print in April, the largest reduction Linocut that I have ever undertaken.  It was inspired by an early morning walk in woodland nearby, the trees were full of darting birds and I saw how bright and beautiful their plumage was at this time of year, and how easy it was to see them in the leafless trees.  The sycamore buds were bright green and pink, just at the point before the leaves unfold.
 
I have deliberately created a soft painterly look to this print, using a light pressing between layers to allow the underlying colours to show through in places. 

This print is a reduction Linocut, made by cutting and overprinting successive layers of ink from a single block of Lino, until it is reduced to the last few details. I make very limited editions when I use the reduction method, usually ten prints or less and when finished they cannot be repeated as the block has been destroyed in the making. 

I use water-based relief inks, blending them to achieve the colours that I like to use and I print onto traditional printmakers paper, either Somerset Satin or a French milled paper. The paper is a soft white with a velvety surface and may have the deckled edge on one side, depending on where it is cut from the full sheet. I use an old Victorian book press to take the impression or rub by hand with a Japanese baren if the print is too big to fit into the press.
 
Image Size 62 x 82 cm
Edition of Eight