Snowdrops - The Final Cut

After a few days of avoiding this print I finally took the plunge and did a few test prints of different colours, some going lighter and some going darker. In the end it became clear that going darker was the only sensible way forward, so here is the finished print with an almost black green. 

'Snowdrops',  Layer 13

Not quite what I intended but a suitable conclusion. Next time I will be a little bit more careful with my mid tones as there was really no where else to go by the time it came to the final pass.

And for my next project........

Puffins

All the prep is done for these smart little birds but possibly not enough time to complete them before the start of the Arts Trail.

Snowdrops Dilemma

A day in the studio that should have been dedicated to painting has turned into printmaking. With the Arts Trail only 3ish weeks away I thought I would push on with the Snowdrops and get them drying in the lovely warm sunshine we have this week.

Layer 11 had already been printed last week in a haze of jet lag and I had been reasonably happy with the casting shadows on the leaves, but I was about to shoot myself in the foot.

'Snowdrops', Layer 11

I cut away the mid-tones of the leaves thinking there would only be one more pass of green and then a background colour.

The penultimate cut 

 I checked the green against my colour swatch and all looked good,

A very dark green

In fact it does look fine in the print. The green tone works perfectly making a lovely shadow on the leaf. But then it dawns on me...this is a very dark green, so what next? This layer of green was where I had hoped to end up and I still have one more pass to go. 

'Snowdrops', Layer 12

I am now scratching my head as to where to go next. Should I deviate from the plan and print a different background colour or should I go for something closer to my original plan and go for a transparent turquoise to set the flowers off. Luckily I have quite a lot of painting to work on so it will give me time to mull the problem over.

Green Shadows

The past few days have been cold and damp so I had to wait a little longer for the green layers to dry....roll on summer! Layer 9 was quite easy as I was only looking to add highlights to the leaves at this point. I didn't want too much contrast so it was just a case of adding a darker green to layer 8.

'Snowdrops'  Layer 9

Layer 10 needed to be a particular shade of green as this was about the casting shadows of the leaves. The green looked more subtle when I mixed it, but printed much stronger on the paper. I added a small amount of Burn't Sienna to neutralise the Phthalo Green for cool shadows. The next job will be to make two layers of green that give these shadows dimension, as they will cut across the mid-ground.....hopefully!

'Snowdrops'  Layer 10

A Touch of Green

'Snowdrops' are taking shape. I decided to put one last shadow on the flowers, using a mixture of Burn't Sienna and Yellow Ochre, but I wanted to make sure my greens were nice and clean so masks had to be cut which added to the time.

'Snowdrops', Layer 7

Then I could let loose with the greens. This one is a real zingy number as I want the shoots to look bright and fresh.

Green Plate Inked Up

The result over the yellow was perfect and I was so glad I had masked the yellow/brown shadow as it would have killed the brightness of the green.
Can't wait to cut away the next layer so you can see some of the leaves 

'Snowdrops' Layer 8

Snowdrops

At last I have managed to get back to this reduction lino cut of 'Snowdrops'.
It's been sat on the side for nearly three months while I messed about with new painting ideas. 

'Snowdrops' ready for the press

I had already put down cool blues and greys for shadows on the flowers and three shades of yellow so today was all about getting yet another darker yellow before I start the many shades of green that I'm planning next.

Getting the right yellow

And here's how it turned out. Suddenly the stalks are coming to life. Maybe just a little tweek with a light shadow before I move on to the next stage.....

'Snowdrops' Layer 6