"Giant's Causeway" lino print

NOW AVAILABLE IN MY ETSY & MY FOLKSY SHOPS

I've put together a short film on the making of this print, a little bit of location footage and some stills of the work in progress.

drying prints

At last I have a set of drying prints to show for my Giant's Causeway lino cut. I do need to come up with a hanging system though as spreading out all over the dining table is a no no. I had a nice little hanging place in the old house but alas no handy beams here. 

Work in progress - update

I've let a few other projects get in the way of my Giant's Causeway lino cut but finally I can see the light at the end of the tunnel*. I've cut three plates for each of the colours I will use, and of course there will be the white of the paper as a fourth. The design is more complex than anything i've attempt recently and i've a niggling doubt that the registration of the 3 plates might be a bit out. In the past I would have used the reduction method, but I found it too tricky to get a reasonable edition together, something would always go wrong with the last colour and having destroyed the plate in the process there was no going back.   This is the mid colour plate and the most complicated of the three.   

* which i've just remembered is the title of a rather fab compilation album by the Damned, must dig it out from the garage, and find a record player.

Works in progress

Late last year - on a mild weekend sandwiched between icy blasts we hopped over to Northern Ireland for a wee road trip and a visit to the Giant's Causeway. I have to say the coastline is stunning, my ideal mix of wide sandy beaches, cliff and rocks. I've been working on a design for a print ever since but struggled to get the composition right. Now I think I've just about cracked it. 

 
I was a but miffed to find i didn't have enough lino to make a start on this last night so decided to turn channel my creative urges towards a spot of painting.

He's not quite finished yet but it was a great feeling to produce something in a relatively short space of time, printmaking on the other hand can be a rather long drawn out process (at least it is the way i do it!). Must do more painting this year - and more birds - lots more birds!