After collagraphs we moved onto relief printing with lino. I was looking forward to working with lino as the last time I had the chance to use it (during my GCSEs) I really enjoyed the process and since then I've seen a lot of amazing lino work by other artists that made me want to give it another go.
I was still using my travel snaps as source material for my print work at this point in the course and I chose a coastal scene (I used it earlier for mono printing as well) as I thought the patterns and textures of the waves/cliffs/grass etc. would translate well onto a lino plate. We were doing a multi coloured print using one plate so it took a while to work out the order of the layers - I don't think I'd be able to explain it again but you start with a plain rectangle of colour and gradually cut into the lino to add each additional colour.
I started with the green as my plain rectangular base colour, then printed the light blue and then the navy on top - I did intend to print a fourth colour to add more definition to the sky but I ran out of time. The colours don't really work for me, in particular the green (I prefer the third image below with the white background). I really should have printed a lot of different background colours and tried out a few combinations but printing a clean rectangle was actually really difficult and I think I felt a bit discouraged after making mistakes with the green.
The cutting and gouging process was difficult (I remember it being tricky in school) as the lino can be quite stubborn and it's easy to cut away more than you intend to. I did enjoy working with the tools and forming the lines and marks in a more hands-on way but I'm not happy with the results that I got from my plate - I don't think the process suits my work as it's clunky and stylised. It's frustrating as I do love lino prints but this technique just isn't for me.
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