Here is my new linocut of Bank Tube Station – just a snap taken on my phone at the studio – but you get the idea. I wanted to call it Little and Large – but I decided to be sensible and so I settled on Weekend Away….
The London Original Print Fair was at the Royal Academy this weekend and, as I was there doing a shift on one of the stands, I decided I might as well take some photos and possibly accompany them with some insightful and astute comments. There’s always a first time for everything.
So, I feel I started off quite well with this one – an acceptable view of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers stand. My linocut, Poetry of Departures, is shown top right.
There were some really good Edward Bawden linocuts on several of the stands, including my favourite – the one of Brighton Pier – priced at a cool £20,000. Unfortunately you can’t really see much – perhaps I should have got a bit closer.
And here is another Bawden, which I’d never seen before. This one is a poster for the Saffron Walden festival, of which there are only two in existence, the other being in the Fry Museum.
Again, this is not a great photo – those people appeared out of nowhere, I’m telling you.
So I had another go at it but this time I managed to cut the top off. Moving swiftly on…
Here we have a person looking through a browser and a nice view of a blue suited shoulder.
Here is a rather interesting set of ten prints, as seen through some sort of leaf sculpture.
And so, with a final flourish, here are some random people walking through a doorway – you can’t ask for more than that, can you?
I spent the last couple of days before the Easter break cleaning and tidying the studio. Well, it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it.
After carefully looking around to make sure that nobody else was waiting patiently with mop and bucket at the ready, I had to assume that the person doing the cleaning was going to be me.
And doesn’t it all pile up? I have a perfectly good sized space to work in but somehow, while my back was turned, several hundred frames and several thousand sheets of paper and card muscled their way in. Well, I might be exaggerating a bit here (but not by much).
And then there’s all the rubbish – discarded proofs, empty ink tubes, dirty rags, lino clippings – oh dear, I really can’t go on.
Still, as I kept telling myself brightly, whilst covered from top to toe in dust and grime, it was definitely going to look fabulous when it was finished.
Funnily enough though, it all looks much the same as when I started. Why is that?
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…..
Yet more editioning – today I was inking up the third block in two tones of the same yellow, the idea being to introduce some depth to the scene and variety to the light.
Plenty of printmakers don’t do their own editioning. It takes up a lot of time which, one could argue, might be put to better use actually creating the prints. Personally, I always do my own printing as I’m a bit of a control freak/perfectionist (such attractive traits) and deep down I feel that no-one will be able to print my linocuts the way I like them done.
Successful printmakers often pay someone else to print their editions. Either they train up a printmaking graduate, sometimes offering free use of their studio facilities as part of the deal, or they use a professional print-editioning studio, which is eye-wateringly expensive.
The real benefit of employing someone to do all the repetitive work involved in printmaking, is that it takes a lot of the pressure off your shoulders, leaving you free to experiment (and to be honest, it can be difficult finding the time to try out new ideas.)
Unfortunately, I think I’d quickly get to the point where I’d be waving a sketch, done on the back of an envelope, at my editioner and asking them to make a print from it.
Meanwhile I’d have my feet up with a nice cup of tea, reading the paper. Actually, that sounds okay…
Hard at work in the studio again today, editioning nine of these prints. I tend to pull a proof first and then do a little more trimming and adjusting of the block so it can be a slow process. Still, two colours are on and drying, two more to go. Can’t wait to finish – this one’s been a bit of a marathon….
This week I will be editioning in the studio – whilst trying to remember why I thought blogging every day in February was a good idea.
The more observant reader may have noticed that I have quietly stopped posting at the weekend – mainly because lying on the sofa eating crisps and watching TV all day is not that interesting to write (or read) about.
It’s not easy to find something interesting to say/photograph every day, without repeating yourself and really, printmaking in itself is quite repetitive – strangely enough, all those glamorous openings and private views have not materialised this month….
So it’s just me plodding along, racking my brains for something new and exciting to write about – and did I mention I’m supposed to do this EVERY DAY???
I think I can safely say that these will be the last ever proofs of this linocut – I finished them today – and I’ll be making some decisions about them over the weekend.
Finally, I’m reasonably happy with these – so I think I’ll carry on printmaking for now. I guess I won’t be trying to get a proper job. Tesco is safe for the time being…..
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….