Critical appraisal of reduction lino cut in 3 colours and black

I have included the original sketches of the rusty shackle I chose to make a print from and I think it attracted me because of the subtle purple and rust colours and the interesting shape, I ignored the background (more on that later!)

I carried out a series of A3 drawings in black felt pen and some coloured drawings in an effort to sort out how I was going to print the image. I planned it but changed the plan several times in the process (see notebook) I think I made the right decisions because I was trying to rescue the print which I thought was not working out as well as I would have liked.

I decided to use a rocking motion with a large broad tool to create the texture of the pebbles in the background and on reflection this was a mistake. I also chose to do an initial print in process yellow which I thought would create a bright airy feel but actually ended up dominating the other colours. By removing so much lino in the background with my initial cuts I created too much white. I would have done better to use a subdued grey colour and only remove the highlights of the metal work with my first cut.

Also by using the rocking motion to create jagged, strict diagonal lines I have created an extremely lively background when it should be subdued.

Apart from the use of yellow the remaining colours worked well, I was particularly pleased with the use of oil paints as ink to print the rusty red colour which came out with a pleasant transparent quality which I will value in future prints.

I also feel the image could have been transformed if I had used one of my more lively sketches in felt pen rather than the sterile, almost mathematically produced drawings I ended up using.

I bought some BFK Rives paper and whilst it was lovely it was extremely expensive and I'm not sure it justified the expense. Fabriano seems a much more cost effective option and remains my favourite.

Of the eight original prints, I ended up with three that were of suitable quality and as the brief only required two I used one to experiment with subduing the background using watercolour washes. This was not successful.

In conclusion I have met the requirements of the brief and some of my print making technique has improved enormously, I was particularly proud of the orange print and kept an example as part of the work I am submitting to my tutor. But my design let me down.