Finishing my first lino print

I've realised that, after blogging about taking up lino printing a while back, I never actually posted the results of my first project as promised! Whoops!

So, to do this properly...

Previously on the Cavletter: I shared how I've started a lino printing course at the Bristol Folk House and decided to attempt a tribute to one of my favourite series of monster movies.

You can read all that by clicking the link below:

My lino printing adventure (so far!)

Learning a new skill and wondering if I’ll make the cut!

The CavletterCavan Scott

I left you with the cliffhanger of finishing the carving and making the print – which is exactly what I did!

Here he is, ready for the test printing:

And here's my first run to make sure it worked, inky fingerprints and all!

I was pretty happy with that, especially with all the chatter marks, the unintended marks or 'noise' that appear in a print due to raised areas or ridges left behind by the carving. They added to the slightly rustic feel I wanted from my first attempt.

After a little tidying up here and there, I went for a proper print!

Now, usually when doing two colours, you're supposed to run the print twice –printing one colour first and letting it dry before following up with the second.

For my first effort, I decided to roll both colours on the lino at the same time. I'd be warned they might bleed into each other, but I didn't mind that. As I've said before, one of the reasons I've opted for lino is to get over my need for everything to be perfect, controlling every aspect of everything.

EMBRACE THE CHAOS, CAVAN!

So, some bleeding was acceptable and fitting the rustic feel.

At least, that's what I hoped.

Here's the lino, all inked up and ready to run through the press...

The moment of truth!

Those were my first couple of runs.

They worked! Phew – and also, hurrah!

Now, the green and red are actually a little more vibrant on the actual prints (I'm really not sure what my camera was doing) and as you can see there was some ghosting on the second one as I didn't roll enough ink on the lino, but in all honesty, I quite like it!

First print... done! Ring the bell! Have a biscuit!

Now, I'm back at the drawing board, working on my second design. I was going to try another monster, but instead I've opted for a design based on one of my favourite animals...

I'll keep you updated with how it goes!