Overprints and accidents

Whenever I’m about print a new colour on a linocut I always do a test print on the same weight and type of paper to see just how the pressure and inking are working before I starting to print the linocut that I’m editioning. Above is one of the crazy, unpredictable and accidental overprinted outcomes of this process looking like a mad dream. There are around twelve or fourteen printings in the image using both opaque and transparent inks, the outcomes are totally unpredictable and quite irresistible. I keep all of the sheets for reference but when I try to reproduce some of the effects all that happens is that another unpredictable effect surfaces. I’ll pop a few more up on the site over the coming months so that some of the limitless variations can be seen, as you can imagine the pre-printing process becomes obsessive and perhaps an adjunct to the serious printing that follows. Now it’s back to a rather staid five colour woodcut of one of our previous Jack Russell Terriers, Minnow, which will probably be the subject of next weeks post. Mind you the stages will appear on one of the sheets.