Update on Project 6

I returned today to my single colour linocut of the View of St Albans Abbey. Using a flipped photo of my last proof, I drew onto a printout of this using a white gell pen. This gave me an idea of how dense my mark making should be around those areas I had highlighted yesterday. I made further cuts accordingly. I then took a proof as follows:

The unfortunate splodges are caused by remnants of vegetable oil used to clean the plate. These had become trapped in the grooves of the cuts and bled out onto the paper whilst in the jack press. I resolved, in future, to use white spirit to clean the plate itself, whilst still using the oil to clean the tools and equipment. However, this proof was sufficient to give an indication of where to go next.

I made more cuts in and around the vegetation at the bank of the stream and behind the dog walker, as well as the roofing on some of the huts. I then took a further proof as follows:

I shall make a few more cuts tomorrow morning concentrating on the allotment and the area of the stream. I am happy with the rest of the composition – except perhaps for the speckling effect on the treeline in the background – but on the whole I feel it is a successful image. I intend to proof one last time and then set about producing final prints in blue, blue-green and in black ink to submit for assignment 2.