Completed print

The Botanist

At last, the linocut is finished and editioned, so that i am happy with 10 of the 18 or so prints made. The print is 20cm square and is a reduction print made from 2 blocks and will be on display at the Cynon Valley Museum from 20th January till 24th February 2018.

The Botanist Linocut

This linocut is developing slowly. It is made from 2 blocks, one for the blues and greys, the other for the yellows. This is so I can keep the colours cleaner and to avoid muddying which can occur with linocuts with 8 or more colours such as this one. This causes its own headaches with registering the 2 blocks and deciding which colour to print next. There are only 3 or so colours to go so should be ready by January!

Hedge laying Linocut

The hedgelayer

Following on from 'The Botanist' post this linocut will be called 'The Hedgelayer' In the foreground are the tools of the trade laid out on a table. The topmost is a Staffordshire or Warwickshire billhook, below this an English pattern axe and then a generic Southern Counties billhook. In the background can be seen a hedge laid in the Midland style where the cut stems or pleachers are offset from the upright stakes and finished off with woven hazel known as hethering.

I intend to make the print from 2 blocks, one for the blues and greys and one for the yellows and browns.

New linocut ideas

I have decided to make a new series of prints that are about pastimes and craft skills. This is the first attempt to trial the process and is called 'The Botanist'. On the table are some of the tools of the trade, starting top right with the stereo microscope, then clockwise are forceps, identification book, hand lens, voucher specimen page and dissecting knife.

The print is made using the reduction technique where one piece of lino is used and is cut away for each colour. This technique needs accurate registration, and at the moment I am using the Kento method of registration developed by Japanese printmakers.

Because I want some of the colours to be quite clear I have decided to go for separate plates for each of the main colour groups, so in this case one for the yellows and one for the blues. Hopefully this will have the advantages of using separate blocks and single reduction method.

New linocuts

Penderyn Church Collage

Its along time since I first visited Penderyn Church and ended up making a large collage of the place based largely on drawings from memory. I decided recently to rework the original image (now on display at the Coliseum Theatre in Aberdare) using collagraph and linocut with collage.

Red Church mono/lino/collagraph/cutout

Each print is a lot smaller than the original but hopefully has some of its character. This one is in red but I have done another in blue. As well as the monoprints there is another smaller reworking of the original as collage

New collage detail

Old linocut

Found this linocut with 3 colours, showing details of local architectural features. Never got round to finishing it.

Latest Linocut hand made card Hoel-y-Felin

Hoel y Felin

A 2 colour greetings card of Hoel-y-Felin Chapel in Trecynon. A6 in size and printed directly from the linocut block with letterpress type on the back.

Latest chapel card design

Hoel y Felin Trecynon

Reverse image of Hoel y Felin drawn onto linocut ready for carving.

Chapel card designs

Cards drying

 

The text for the cards is typeset using lead type in a chase and then printed onto the card using either an Adana Five-Three or Adana Eight-Five table top platen press. The type for the rear of the cards is the same for the different designs and this is kept locked up in a spare chase. The text for the front is made up to suit each particular design so that small runs of up to 20 cards can be made. If a later run of cards is made there will be differences in the layout and appearance of the text.

The image for the front of the cards is made using linoleum. This is first drawn in pen, then copied onto tracing paper with a soft pencil. The reversed image is then rubbed onto the lino block. A border is made the same size as the card to ensure accurate registration. The image is drawn over in black ink so that it is clear which areas are to be carved away. The lino is carved using a fine gouge and craft knife so that it can be printed easily with as few marks as possible.

Once the lino is carved the image is tested on paper and then card to check for clarity and registration. The cards are produced by inking the lino with a roller and then placing the card carefully over the lino block. These are then placed under the middle of the nipping press and an appropriate pressure applied.

The ink used for the text and the relief printing is the same, in this case it is Caligo safe wash ink which produces consistent results and dries fairly quickly to produce an even sheen. The card is ready creased A6 card with a smooth white or cream finish. Once the ink has dried the cards are checked to ensure there are no nasty thumb prints or missing text and then packed in polycarbonate sleeves with brilliant white envelopes.

Linocut of Crickhowell

 Hanging up to dry - the latest building montage, this one of Crickhowell. Each is printed using Caligo ink (Made in Wales!) onto off white smooth 70lb paper. The image is printed from the lino block by hand using the back of a spoon as the image is too large to go in my nipping press.

Aberdare Printing History

Linocut mast-heads and block type

 

Alongside the actual refurbishment of some of the buildings in Aberdare town centre, the Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI), partly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), is celebrating the culture of the town through raising awareness of its history. One such area is the rich printing heritage of Aberdare especially in the mid to late nineteenth century. This was a time of great change not only in the developing technologies of the industrial revolution but also in the areas of religion,  politics and  social structures. Aberdare newspapers played an important role in this change as their readership included much of south and mid Wales.

As part of the THI programme, Lucy is working with a class in a local primary school to develop an art led project based around printmaking promoting Aberdare's printing heritage. I am supporting her by producing a number of educational aids including copies of old newspaper mastheads (made from lino) and large block type. The idea of the type is to show how letterpress was compiled before the days of computers, although these letters are also large enough to be used as stampers.

Once the work with the childeren is completed it will form part of an exhibition at Cynon Valley Museum in half term week.

Linocut Design, Llanelli.

Linocut preparatory drawing in pen and ink

This is a drawing in preparation to make a single colour linocut for the church at Llanelli, near Gilwern. Using the sketch made on site in the previous post, the image has been squared up and transferred to 150mm x 100mm format. I was particularly interested in the yew trees which effectively encircle the church on its south side. 

Testing Relief Inks

I am in the process of finding more about the inks I use for lino prints. I have started by testing black inks
Speedball, water washable
Daler Rowney water washable
IKUA Ink and tack thickener
Caligo Safe Wash relief ink
Lawrence oil based ink
As well as
Windsor and Newton Water colour
Windsor and Newton Drawing Ink(Indian)

Used pinch press and 160g paper throughout for consistency with 2" durathene roller. Two designs used, one of cherry tree leaves for detail and one just blank to give an idea of density(coverage). Each ink was printed up to 3 times, 1st run, 2nd run(block not cleaned), 3rd run(block cleaned)

Best Results for detailed image(cherry) numbers refer to test samples
1 Speedball(1st run)
12 Daler Rowner (3rd run)
15 W&N watercolour (3rd run)
22 IKUA (2nd run)
Worst results
18 W&N watercolour, no image
19 W&N drawing ink, v pale image
11 Daler Rowney (2nd run)
20 Caligo (2nd run) too thick

Best results for plain blocks
30 Caligo (2nd run)
Speedball (3rd run)
Worst results
17 W&N watercolour, destroyed paper
4 Speedball (1st run)
23 IKUA (1st run)

Overall results
Speedball, good crisp image for finer work, difficult to get dense cover over large areas
Daler Rowney Thick ink, better when block cleaned between prints. Not dense coverage on larger areas
Watercolour Surprisingly good detail however dries almost instantly so no good for larger areas
Drawing Ink Useless
IKUA Good for detailed work with correct amount of thickener, very slow drying. Poor coverage
Caligo Dense and good coverage but too thick for finer work, needs to be thinned
Lawrence Similar to Caligo

Cwmyoy Church Linocut Proof

A 6" x 4" proof print of Cwmyoy Church. According to the printed guide the tower leans more than Pisa at 5.2 degrees as opposed to 4.7 degrees. 

LLanthony Proof

Linocut proof of Llanthony Priory view of the West towers. In order to get the detail of the blind lancets  the drawing was scaled up so final image is about 7"x 5".

Llanthony Ideas

I am starting to think about some more lino cut designs based on sketches of churches done in August. I want a simple 2 colour image that can either be done from one block and then hand painted or using 2 blocks. After I did this I immediately remembered looking at Richard Guyatt's  Ralph Allen's sham castle design for Shell which he did in 1936.

More images of Llanthony Priory

Denis Constanduros

Shell poster from http://vintageposterblog.com/2010/10/27/thats-shell-that-was/

1850's Lithograph



Ian Phillips Linocut

 

Market Hall, Crickhowell

Work in progress, 6"x4" linocut of market hall and adjoining shops.

The Bear, Crickhowell

Black and white linocut, 6 x 4 inches approx of The Bear public house in Crickhowell. This is in preparation for the celebration exhibition at the Cric Resource Centre which I am taking part in from next week.

http://www.willowarch.co.uk/gallery_367649.html#photos_id=8183713

Aberdare Montage

This linocut print shows from top left to right;
The Constitutional Club its 'precipitous pavilion roof in the centre surmounted by an enormous ironwork crown'. 1894.
Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1867, remodelled 1894.
Temperence Hall. New facade. Originally1858.
Statue of Griffith Rhys Jones(Caradog) in Victoria Square. 1920.
Old Court House, 'an agressive and rather ugly neo-Baroque facade'. 1914.
Second row (l-r);
The Black Lion Hotel
National School 1848?
Midland Bank, Grey Newbridge rock-faced stone and Bath stone ashlar. Barryesque palazzo style.1857.
Bottom row(l-r);
Higher Standard School. (Now girls comp) Pennant sandstone dressed with red Wilderness ashlar .1905.
St David's Presbyterian Church. Geometrical gothic. 1878.
Market 'an ashlar pedimented temple front with paired Tuscan pillars'  1853
Quotes from Pevsner Buildings of Glamorgan.
http://www.willowarch.co.uk/gallery_367649.html#photos_id=8183739