To my shock, and if I’m honest, some horror too, I realised that I’d started writing about the progress of this ‘new’ linocut nearly two months ago.
I got as far as talking about planning the print here, starting work on the first block here and posting a photo of pulling a proof of it here. I thought it was all going rather well.
Then I made the usual mistake of opening my plan chest drawer and casting an ever so slightly critical eye over my last editioned print, of Liverpool Street Station.
And yes, before I knew it, I was back to wrestling with the wretched thing – for what felt like at least a year but probably wasn’t…
Consequently it all went a bit quiet on the London Bridge Station front, until I finally managed to get back to working on it again.
And here’s the result – just need a title now….

                                         Well, I’ve spent weeks re-working this print.
                                                              

                                                         Still, I’m happy with it now…..

In the end, I decided to print in two tones of the same colour on the third block, in order to get some more depth. The trouble with using the same colour all over was that, in order for the yellow on the platform to create a strong light effect, by comparison the yellow in the little arched windows at the back was far too strong and kept jumping forward.
So I used a slightly denser yellow (lemon yellow, olive green and some white) on the top and bottom sections, and just added more white to the middle section.
Anyway, I have three slightly different versions of this proof, on which to experiment with the last colour – I sort of wish I had thirty….

Today I’ve mostly been staring at these four different proofs. They’ve been stuck up on the studio wall and I’ve come to the reluctant conclusion that none of them are working (in other words, they’re all horrible). Not only that, but I’ve completely lost sight of what I was aiming for.
Still, I do like a challenge and so I’ve decided to do one last batch this week. And if they’re still unresolved  – well, I may have to go and work at Tesco’s….

 

From the top, the first block is printed in a deep purple, the second block is overprinted with primrose yellow and then a close-up of some of the crowd of passengers at the bottom. It’s looking fine at the moment but this is where it all went wrong last time….

I’ve finished cutting the block and taken the first proof of it. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this now.
I was thinking of an early morning scene, with those beautiful pale colours and pearly light but in that case, a dark chocolate brown was probably not the best start….

So this view is of London Bridge train station, currently being torn apart in the name of progress. Network Rail in their wisdom have decided to take this beautiful Victorian roof down and replace it with (and I quote directly here) “An eye catching roof-scape, made up of undulating canopies”. Oh dear.
And alas, you won’t be able to see this panorama again either, as the old footbridge between the platforms will be replaced by underground tunnels.
Anyway I’ve had the drawing for this linocut ready for a while now and thought I’d better get going with it as quick as possible – a last hurrah for poor London Bridge Station…..

This afternoon I’ve been getting to grips with the colour separations of my next linocut (it’s of my favourite station, London Bridge). I find it helpful to get the basic areas sorted out in advance, as I like to see an even distribution of colour over the whole print.
Of course what’s really exciting is what happens when the inks overlay one another – all sorts of unexpected colour combinations start appearing like magic. Using four colours will guarantee lots of surprises (and, let’s be honest here, the odd shock too).
Tomorrow I start the cutting….