Wheal Maid linoprints

I’ve always made prints, mainly linoprints and monoprints. This year, after some strong encouragement from various printmaker sources, including my wife Debbie, I decided to explore deeper the printing process to compliment, as well as run alongside my drawing and painting practise. Having different projects running parallel alongside one another keeps me from getting into creative ruts. Most of my work involves process, so for example, while a painting is drying, I can turn my energies elsewhere.

Starting simply, I decided to create a series of linoprints based on this drawing made earlier in the year. Its an A4 drawing in pencil of the Wheal Maid mine in the Poldice valley near where I live.

This linoprint series is quite small – 20 x 15cm on Japanese Ho Sho paper. It’s a 4 stage reductive print, which means each colour layer is taken from the same piece of lino. Debbie loves the cutting stage, so I marked out each stage of the cut on the lino; she cut using specialist linocut tools; she inked up the lino; and then I printed.

Here she is inking up the third of the four print stages before handing to me to use a homemade glass bead baren to make the print. You will see we adopted Ternes Burton pins and tabs to ensure accurate registration. You can buy them here.

See the final print below.
Available to purchase in my shop.