A Print Story - Coastal Cove, Pendeen.

August 14, 2020

My challenge for this print was to capture the submerged seaweed covered rocks which I just love.

Here's my print story from the inspiration to the finished artwork.

I wanted to get across all the work that goes into producing a linocut print and how long it takes, so I did share this as I went along on my instagram

26th July

I started with a scribbly sketch to make a kind of composition plan.

First I drew a simple line drawing in pen on my lino, then I used a white crayon to mark the sea foam and cut it out.

Then I printed my first two colours, the palest green of the sea and the pale yellow of the sand. I knew I wanted the pale yellow for the base of my flowers. Each time you cut away you keep the last colour you printed.

Then I cut all night, flower and sea details so I could start the next day by printing my next two colours.

27th July

Again I printed two colours at the same time, and used the quick drying speedball inks.

Here you can see the linocut, the lino inked up and the paper printed.

Then I stayed up cutting late so I could print in the morning. Good light for mixing the colours. The hardest and most important part, I think, is mixing the colours.

28th July

Next two colours, the start of the green foreground and more depth in the sea. I started to use the Graphic Chemical inks now because the colours are richer but they take a lot longer to dry.

Then I cut lots of detail into the grassy slopes ready to print a darker green.

2nd August

Now I can't print two colours at the same time because the areas are next to each other and I need to cut and create the definition between the land and the sea. I continued with the foreground first. I printed a darker green and some yellowy brown smudges to get a bit of distance happening on my grassy banks.

I think my smudgy banks worked here's how it printed.

3rd August

Lots of blue mixing and printing.

I printed the sky. I did this in two layers. First I printed a very pale blue all over, then I cut some stripes and printed a darker blue.

When I'd sorted my sky then I got to print my blue sea right up to my horizon. I masked off the green hill sides.

6th August

Lots, lots, lots more cutting into that banking and a darker green printed.

A night and morning of cutting into the sea. I thought my banking was serious cutting time! but definitely not compared with the 7 hours of cutting tiny pieces out of the sea.

9th August

Sea printing and I'm happy to say those cuts were worth it.

And a dark grey for the first layer of the rocks

I marked some areas of white to put in some subtle light out at sea, and... cut all that sea off! that sea, yes! that sea that had taken me so long to cut.