Here is the first proof of the first block, printed in turquoise and ready to overprint with the second block (in crimson).
I always make a lot of changes to the first block – for example, I couldn’t choose between whether the floor should be light or dark and in the end, decided on light, to echo the ceiling areas, and so cut the lino away on blocks one and two.
Then I had a change of heart and painted the floor in thinned turquoise ink (you can see this above) as I wanted to check whether a darker floor would create a better balance.
Carol Nunan over at Carol’s Original Prints has suggested on her blog that a ‘How To’ on various print techniques might be interesting.
So this is the start of mine, on linocuts obviously – and this is the drawing that I will use to trace and transfer on to four lino blocks…
What size should a print edition be?
I guess the question could be – how can you make a living if you only produce prints with small editions? After all, the major costs are at the beginning – the time it takes to come up with a working drawing, then the numerous proofs – all that ink and paper – and then the editioning costs themselves….
A small edition size of say thirty, might not be practical when sending out a new print to a number of commercial galleries (as most professional printmakers do) as you could very quickly run out of stock . And, of course, at this stage you may well not have actually sold any…
Small editions only work if you produce your prints quickly and prolifically and then by only using one lino block, etching plate, etc. Using several blocks, as I do, rather rules this out, as producing a multi-block lino is time-consuming and painstaking work.
I recently lowered my edition numbers from 100 to 75 after much internal debate – partly as I get really fed-up printing my editions up to 100 but also because some collectors won’t buy prints from large editions
One issue with this though is that to counteract the reduction in sales opportunities I should really raise my prices by 25% – the problem is that some (or most?) buyers may not appreciate the distinction…..
Here we are, a few of the hardworking but happy band of artists we call Half Moon Printmakers, enjoying a glass (or three) of champagne at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
Varnishing Day is traditionally a day set aside for selected artists to make last minute adjustments to their paintings before the show is open to the public. These days, of course, we just go to gawp and have a bit of fun…..
From the left, Karen Keogh, Sonia Rollo (front), myself and Susie Perring.
Sometimes it’s not about making mistakes – it’s about changing your mind……
So now it’s all over – the show is down and finished.
It has been a tremendous focus of energy for the last couple of months.
For instance:
Endless emails flying back and forth.
Designing and printing the invites, posters and flyers.
Allocating jobs and drawing up the rotas for sittings.
Organising the private view.
Choosing the hanging team – decisiveness being a key attribute, no ditherers allowed.
Getting the sales desk together – cash box, credit card machine, invoice book.
And so on and on – you get the picture….
Then there’s the small matter of keeping a disparate group of artist-exhibitors happy and still talking to one another at the end of it all. I’m thinking of those little niggles that can become open warfare before you know it.
For instance:
The polite but steely comments to a fellow exhibitor on how much space that particular piece of work of theirs takes up (less than polite when out of ear shot, obviously).
The jostling for the best wall spaces and then discussing who has crammed their work in (to the detriment of said work, obviously).
The all important question of who will sell and what (it doesn’t matter how friendly we normally are with our fellow exhibitors, a great deal of surreptitious totting up goes on in the vicinity of the sales book, again obviously).
Oh, the drama of it all – I love it…..
After three busy weeks, it is the final weekend for the London Printmakers exhibition at the Oxo gallery.
Here are a few photos of last Sunday, when I was invigilating the show with my colleague, Karen Keogh. It was very busy all day. As the gallery is right on the South Bank, between the London Eye and Tate Modern, it consequently has a tremendous footfall. Lots of people pass by and just seem to drop in (and hopefully then buy something).
Anyway, if anyone is in the neighbourhood, please come and say hello….
Kings Cross train station is Grade One listed, although you wouldn’t know it – the building has had a lot of really rubbishy work done to it over the years.
Although it is going to be refurbished soon, it still has a certain grim charm and I wanted to record it before it got tarted up.
St. Pancras station, which is right next door, has had the full heritage treatment- cleaned, buffed and polished to within an inch of it’s life. The result is undoubtedly very beautiful but I think I prefer the rather down-at-heel Kings Cross….
