Posted in Printmaking by David on Sunday the 4th February, 2007

I hadn’t cut a block since the summer of 2006. Sooner or later something had to be done, so I browsed some old photos from a walk in Raleigh Park, the swamp-on-a-slope that runs down the hill behind our house. I stared at a picture of a hawthorn tree-trunk for a full minute before spotting the obvious: a face in the bark. There is something a little fey about the whole top end of the park, so this shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

The urgent need was to make marks on a block so I put an edge on my gouges, made a quick sketch and began to cut.

OK, the result isn’t up to much. My tool skills don’t extend to cutting fine detail in small blocks, and other mistakes crept in — the shadows are misplaced, the ivy resembles a noose — but at least it’s yer actual print on paper.

My oil-based ink had nearly frozen in the garage, but the cheap water-based stuff that rolls like thin black ketchup still took orders. Note to self: keep ink indoors over winter.

I learned another lesson: office paper is lousy for proofing. For this one I tore up some large sheets of good sketching paper and noticed the difference straight away.

After some cross words with my wonky nipping press, I downgraded to a wooden spoon and fingernails. The combination of hand burnishing and decent paper seems to agree with me. I can’t wait to try again with a larger, simpler piece.