Reduction work

My next step was to use the same lino cut but do some reduction work on it by taking some further lino off and creating a different image with it.
I carved some texture into the tree bark and that's about all I could do with the positive image.
Next will try multi lino blocks in several colours.

First lino prints

Here are my first lino prints.
1: I decided to use white paint on a coloured card background. The card was not mean't for the paint though and some of the fibres of the paper peeled away when I lifted the lino away. I used the roller to apply paint to the linoblock before printing but I think there was too much paint although I tried to thin it first by rolling out in a tray as directed - the paint had fallen just over the edges into some of the carved out areas. The paint didn't roll on to the lino block - it just pushed the paint across for some reason - not sure if it was too thick.

2: I tried to thin the paint further by rolling out in the tray more and applying to the lino block in the opposite direction (horizontally) in case it made a difference. There still seemed to be too much paint (bleeding into the carved out negative areas) and the paint was just pushed across the lino block rather than rolling it on flat - I don't know how to fix this. I do like the effect it has given though - looking like a landscape behind the tree.

3. Next I decided to try painting on the ink instead of rolling. This was good because it used less paint. I used a large brush to get the paint on fairly quickly before it dried as I didn't use too much ink - I didn't want it to bleed into the negative space as before. I like the effect this has created with the brush strokes looking like bark on the tree trunk. I created three images from the same application of ink like a ghost image.

4. I applied more paint in these two prints because the previous run didn't seem to have quite enough ink. I used a paintbrush again and applied the paint fairly quickly. Again, the ink bled into the negative space. Not sure what to do about this - these are 3mm lino blocks and I know that 5mm thicknesses are available so maybe I should try these and carve away more of the negative space so that this bleeding doesn't happen.

5. I wanted to do one more run of prints while I had the materials out so I tried applying the ink with the same brush to the lino block but this time by dabbing it on quite thickly and quickly. I printed onto thick cardboard. I like the effect this gave - a natural texture to the tree bark and the ink didn't seem to bleed into the negative space so much as the previous attempts.

With what I've learned here I will next try to do a print with more than one colour.

Rolling on masks

 

Realised I had to complete the masking section before lino blocks.
I used the same fir tree mask I had made previously and cut out a thin paper mask with a knife. I rolled the paint but a bit too thin I think - the image wasn't very clear and I had to roll several times to get into the corners which mean't that the paint soaked through the paper and stuck to the card I had decided to use. I think this was mainly due to the card I printed onto which was quite fibrous.
Next I decided to create the same mask using an acetate sheet so that there was no problem with soaking and sticking of the mask to the card. I also cut this using a knife on a board to get a good clear image. I also used thicker paint because there didn't seem to be enough on the first image.
I was pleased with the clearer image and also the texture given by the roller with thicker paint, however the roller didn't roll as such - rather it just pushed the ink across the mask so maybe the ink was too thick afterall.
1. Materials and preparation.
2.  Image using paper mask, thin paint on card.
3. Thinly rolled paint.
4. Acetate sheet ready to draw mask onto.
5. Negative cut out of acetate sheet.
6. Image 2 with thicker paint, pushed across with roller.
7. Texture created by roller on image 2.

Masking

This is the remainder of work I had to do for project 1: masked monoprints. Here I have used acrylic paints - much easier to work with than oils as they can be thinned with water. I also decided to use linen as my canvas because I intended for my degree course to be in textile design.
First I drew freestyle onto cardboard, cut out with scissors to create a positive mask and used a bunched up sponge to apply the paint - I liked the texture this gave but it bled out under the mask making the outline not so clear (image 1).
I then decided to use a paintbrush imagining that this would give a cleaner outline but it actually seemed to come out worse (image 2).
This made me realise that cardboard is probably too thick as a mask - the mask needs to be very close to the canvas so that paint cannot seep underneath so I tried paper but this time I also chose paper for my canvas and decided to try the negative mask method by painting around the cut out. I used the sponge again and then the paint brush (image 3 left and right respectively). The outline on both of these was quite clear (apart from the bottom where I tried to lift away the mask).
The next part of the masking project was to create a two colour masked piece - I decided to add a second lighter colour green by mixing with white to put some lights on the tree. I made a positive mask from paper and a hole punch and dabbed the medium on with the paint brush (image 4). The outcome was ok - maybe the paint was a little too thick (image 6) - something to think about if I attempt this again.
Image 5 shows my negative and positive masks made from cardboard and paper.

If I decide to do mask work on fabric in the future I will try to use a mask made from acrylic sheeting and also on thinner fabric. The material I used here was old hand woven linen so was heavy with an uneven slub weave and hard to iron so probably didn't help in getting a clean outline to the image.