This assignment has developed my experience in relief printmaking in response to the theme of life form through the use of more experimental forms of expression in the cutting process.
Task 1 – Project 8 Reduction Method Linocutting
Here are my three best prints from my reduction linoprint which show my best ability in this technique:
The four layers in this reduction linocut are yellow, pink, dark green and black. All in all I am happy with the final prints and very proud that I managed to get every layer printed successfully and follow along with what seemed at first to be a very complicated process. You can see my thoughts on this project in my blog post here: https://wordpress.com/post/katyraynerillustration.wordpress.com/2511
Task 2 -Project 9 Experimental mark making with lino
Here are four prints from my experimental mark making test linocut:
This project involved using lots of different types of tools and household utensils which would not usually be used for This project involved using different household utensils which would not usually be used for linocutting. I used implements which I found around the home and in my husband’s toolkit.
I used two different types of corkscrew (the first being more comfortable to hold) and both had similar effects of a clear but not deep cut into the lino, with a nice curve.
I then moved onto a bottle top, which provided an even less clear and not at all deep cut. I abandoned this fairly quickly for these reasons and also because it was not comfortable to hold:
Next was more promising: a meat stabber. The tips to it were fairly pointy and I managed some small grooves in the lino with it:
The most surprising utensil was next – a wooden skewer. I achieved the most depth of cut so far with this device and was going to carry on with it but the end broke off and I thought that swapping out new ones every few minutes was not eco-friendly:
I achieved some depth of cut in the lino with the plastering palette knife but it was very unwieldly to hold:
I loved the pencil-like feel of ‘drawing’ on the lino with the drawing pin and the picture hook but they gave too shallow an impression which I knew would not cut it:
The only real triumph of this exercise was the Stanley knife, which offered real depth and was the only reason that the prints worked at all:
Task 3 – written task – a short study of 500 words discussing a printmaker who had influenced my work during the course
I have been hugely influenced, during this course and generally in my artistic life, by fellow Kentish printmaker Tina Hagger, also known as HaggyTea.
Hagger began linocut printing in 2014 after doing a one-day course with Nick Morley (AKA Linocut Boy) in Margate and says “[he] awakened me to the world of linocut! He created a monster!”
Tina’s tool preferences are traditional battleship grey lino, an etching press, Cranfield Safewash Relief Ink and Pfeil tools. She uses these tools to create her clean, crisp, and deceptively simple prints.
Hagger’s prints reflect her love of the countryside and the quirks and curiosities of nature, which I am also fascinated with. This fascination has increased tenfold over the last year when lockdown has given me habit of a daily walk. I have been able to take full advantage of viewing the shifts in nature as seasons change.
Hagger’s prints have been very inspiring for me as I ponder the theme of lifeforms. as I have been for the last few projects.
When undertaking my first single colour linoprint for this course, I was inspired by Hagger’s Derek Jarman’s Garden Prospect Cottage Dungeness. I loved its simplicity, its beauty, and the way that it made the everyday into the magical. As a homebird myself, I loved the cosy nature of this print. I am particularly wowed with how she was able to show a beautiful sunset with such a limited colour palette. I tried to channel some of the print’s safe and calm vibe into my piece (which showed my garden and shed):
Derek Jarman’s Garden Prospect Cottage Dungeness by Tina Hagger, multi-block linoprint; and my single colour linoprint My Garden
When I undertook the (at times literally) painful process of making my multi-block linoprint of The Hot Tin, always on my mind was Tina’s beautiful print The Hot Tin. However, I should have taken more of a leaf from her book and kept it a lot simpler – it would have meant a lot less stress for me in the long run.
My reduction linoprint was inspired by a few of Hagger’s works but in particular Kentish Oast House and Wonder = Hope.The first shows her trademark deceptive simplicity and clean lines, and I am in awe at how she managed to get such detail in the horse and the tree. Likewise in the other piece, I am in admiration of her letterwork – a tricky thing to do anyway, without adding joined up writing in the mix.
As much as I do admire the details in these two prints, as I was planning the reduction linoprint I remembered my trails and tribulations (and my poor gouged fingers), from the multi-block linoprint task and kept things a lot more simple, producing a single flower print with a grass background:
My reduction linoprint Flower and grass
Going forward, I’m sure that Tina will continue to inspire me and influence my work. I hope that I keep the simplicity mantra in mind, but also hope that I can progress to being as adept as she is at the smaller, more intricate details, which add to the overall feeling of wonder at nature.
Bibliography and background reading:
Hagger T –
https://platform-shop.co.uk/product/tina-hagger-limited-edition-lino-print-kentish-oast-house/ https://printdayinmay.com/2019/02/25/seven-questions-for-a-printmaker-tina-hagger-aka-handmadebyhaggy-a-uk-printmaker/
Katy Rayner Illustration 