Tawny Expressions – Linoblocks – Linocuts

I have finally finished carving the linoleum blocks for the “Tawny Expressions” linocut print. They are smaller blocks but a lot of smaller complex carving with the No 1 blade so fiddly and time consuming. Carving larger expanses of open “white” space is far quicker and a bit more dramatic really.

So here they all are!

If you look at the edges around the carved designs you will see I haven’t as yet trimmed the blocks back. A good tip for carving is to leave a small edge that can be cut back with a knife when you have finished carving. As linoluem is a softer material it is easy to chip off an edge or even wear a corner off whilst carving. So if what you are looking for in a design is a nice even neat edge (well as best you can get given the pliable nature of the lino) then it is a good idea to leave a little around the edge of the design to cut back just before printing.

It has been extremely wet in our little corner of the world for a few weeks  now so I will wait until it dries out a bit before printing them…in the meantime I am carving the Emu as well as continuing with finalising the alphabet designs.