an odd pair

As part of the induction to my new job I've been making a print using each of the processes available to students in the print room. I think it's a really good way of double checking I know what I'm doing before I show someone else, and of course every print room is slightly different so its good to go through everything systematically and learn the quirks...

So, this is a lino print. I used the reduction (or suicide) method, which means that the first colour is cut from the lino, then printed, then more lino is cut away and the plate printed again over the top of the previous image. This process is repeated until the print is complete, all from one piece of lino which leaves very little room for mistakes. A wrong cut towards the end can ruin the entire run of prints, hence the name suicide method!

This print uses two colours; first dark blue (with just the eyes and suckers cut out to reveal the white paper beneath) and then lighter blue over the top (with the background cut away to leave the dark blue). I enjoyed this reduction method as it forced me to think about how colour layering works, a kind of backwards way of thinking for me (I think my brain naturally works in lines) so I'm still always surprised by the results! This print was also printed using an hydraulic nipping press, just in case you're interested...

And then this...

An etching and aquatint, (sorry the photos are a bit rubbish, I took these on my camera phone at work, they do enlarge a bit though, if you click) with a background rollover and (egg shaped) stencil... I love the delicacy and subtlety of tone that aquatint allows, so different to the lino above. 

On the first aquatint I did last week I messed up all the tones, it takes a few goes to get a feel for the strength of the acid, but this birdie turned out better I think. And that's what I need to keep telling myself; that I shouldn't expect to get things right first time, to always try again.  

And then that makes me think... even if I do think I'm doing ok I should still keep pushing myself, because it might be rubbish and I haven't even realised (or at least I probably could still do better :) ) 

So, tomorrow...