More adventures in Linocut printing

I am continuing on in my attempt to learn about the linocut process and have done a multi color reduction print to see how the inks work over each other and how registration works (or in my case doesn't quite work).  The process is shown below with the first color printed in yellow, then the plate is further reduced by cutting away the areas to remain yellow and printing the next color (green).  I then cut away all the parts to stay green and tried several different colors printing the final versions to see how the colors reacted with each other.  I learned:

• I really need better inks.  I am using a beginners water based ink by speedball that didn't offer any transparent base to work with and was difficult to print as the series went on.
• I am going to need to be more precise and have more guides set down for the registration process in order to get a better alignment for the prints
• The new lino was much better and easier to cut than my previous test print, as it is probably newer than what I had on hand previously

I may or may not revisit this croton motif in the future but this learning print really was quite helpful in seeing the process work (and not work) in my studio.  It was also quite helpful in getting me to think in printmaking mode as opposed to painting mode when creating the starting image.  

 

Playing with linocut

I have started experimenting and trying to re-learn how to work with Linocut prints.  This is the first test of the materials and tools I have on hand to work with.  I am not sure the inks are all that good in quality and the lino was old and kind of crumbly but it is encouraging me to get another piece and see what else I can do with this medium.  

 

Gardens in Motion

Another in the series of garden abstractions from this time of isolation.   This one started from a thumbnail watercolor sketch and then took on a life of its own.

Swirl
16 x12 Oil on Canvas 

 

Birds in the Garden

This year we have had quite a few nests in the gardens and house eaves.  We watched as a pair of cardinals built a nest in the Buddha belly bamboo about 5 feet from our screen porch.  They hatched and fledged 3 chicks from the nest then moved on.  There was also a nest in the eaves just off the porch which was either sparrows or wrens, but we never got a real good look at them.  They also hatched and fledged some chicks from that nest.  The two nests are below, first one is the cardinal nest which included bits of plastic.  It contained small snail shells when we looked at it.  The other nest belonging to the sparrows (or wrens) is much more elaborate and deep.  It probably is 6 inches in and has a smaller opening.  All in all, along with squirrels nesting in the palm tree and camphor trees, it has been an abundant summer here in the garden.   

This painting of the cardinals give the feeling and fleeting appearances of those birds in the bamboo as they tended their young in the evenings.  

Cardinals Nesting in the Buddha Belly
24 x 16 Oil on Canvas on panel 

 

More in the Garden Series

At the pandemic isolation continues, I have spent a lot of time looking at and watching the visitors to my gardens.  The butterflies and birds this year seem to be enjoying themselves and the flowers have been keeping them around.  I am painting from the feeling of the gardens as they change from day to day and hour to hour.  

Mariposa
16 x 20 Oil on Canvas 

 

Night Storm

This has been hanging around for a few years waiting for me to finish it and for some reason the mood struck this week.  

Night Storm
24 x 18 Mixed Media 

Beach Bones on Talbot Island

Beach Bones
11 x 14 Oil on Canvas 

Fog Cover

●Fog Cover

40 x 30 Oil on Canvas 

Morning Mist Redux

Morning Mist on Egan's Creek
16 x 20 Oil on Canvas Panel

Sometimes you just have to keep painting on something until you get what you want.  The bottom left painting was the original of this work from a photo I snapped on a morning walk past Egan's creek.  I really wasn't fond of it so I painted over it and ended up with the bottom right painting.  Still not happy....

I scraped that off and continued on to the re-painting above.  This photo doesn't quiet capture the color in the sky and water as it was quite overcast when I took it, but I think I am finally done with this work.

 

Rain Garden

We are having daily afternoon and evening thunderstorms which transform the look of the gardens into a kind of veiled shimmery presence.  This image was perfect for exploring the possibilities of watercolor, ink, and acrylic paint on absorbent ground canvas panels.  The painting is finished with UVLS polymer varnish making it frameable without glass.  This process, from the making of the panels to the final varnishing has been a comforting way to create during this lockdown period.

Rain Garden
37 x 34 Mixed Media on Canvas Panel

Just because...

The Bowie Nebula
20 x 15 Watercolor and Acrylic on Canvas panel 

Still playing around...

Untitled
15 x 15 Watercolor on canvas board