52 Weeks of Print: Reduction Printing & What I Learned the Hard Way

Learned a couple of things this week - both good and bad. I'll start by showing you this weeks print offering. I went for another reduction print. The top image shows my initial sketch/idea and my finished carving. I kept it pretty simple this time by only using two colors.

This is the first layer.

This is the finished piece, "Honey Bee".

Time for the first lesson and a little rant...

If you're going to take the time to carve into linoleum, for the love of all that is holy, do NOT go the easy route and use easy carve lino. Yes, it cuts like butter, but it also crumbles like a saltine. It's impossible to get detail - and I do love my detail. See the little crumbles in this closeup? Not good, folks. 

Now, I'm certainly no expert but I've carved forty weeks worth of these dang buggers and can say without a doubt that I recommend Jack Richeson linoleum blocks. They are a little thinner, but you can get great detail without fear of it falling apart plus it's still pretty easy to carve.

So, here's the good...

Remember last week when I said that I was going to try to up my game? Wellllll, this week I went BACK to Dick Blick (yes, such torture) and picked up actual printmaking ink and some actual printmaking paper. I know, I know. The fact that it took 40 weeks to come to this conclusion remains a mystery.

Compare my little deer print shown above with the prints I made a couple of weeks ago.  I suppose that sometimes quality does actually win out. 

Makes me want to go back and reprint all of my past efforts. Okay, maybe not, but I have learned my lesson.

Learned any good lessons recently? Lessons that made you sheepishly shake your head, shrug your shoulders and go, "Well, %$#&!"

That's it for week 40! If you'd like to check out weeks 1-39, head over to my 52 Weeks of Print page OR over to my Pinterest board OR over to Instagram. Either way, you'll find yourself inundated with prints.