CREATIVE PROCESS
LINOCUT -
THE REDUCTION METHOD
A smooth block of battleship grey artists linoleum is carved into using specialist tools. This creates a printing plate which is then inked up using soft rollers.
The first cut is then printed using a hand burnishing technique. The paper is offered up to the printing block and pressure applied to the back of the paper with either a bamboo baren, wooden spoon or just using light pressure from the hand or fingertips. In this way the ink is transferred to the paper to produce the first layer of the image.
Another cut - another layer. In this way the image builds, layer upon layer until finished.
The process is final, only one edition of prints can be made as the linoleum block is gradually carved away and destroyed in the process.
When I start a print I don't know where it's going. Each time I pull the paper back I don't know what to expect. It is this unknown of the emerging image, the gradual building layer upon layer and the experimentation, that I find so beguiling in this art form. This is what makes each print in an edition unique in its own right.
