The Fun Fiasco - Lino Printing

Today all my purchases arrived from ebay, so I was good to go with my lino printing! To say I was excited was an understatement. Now, before you read any further, there are some things you ought to know. Firstly, it's been a while since I've lino printed. As in years. Secondly, I don't have my own home, my own workspace or my own printing press. And thirdly, I'm not one to let the things mentioned in Secondly hold me back. So, without further ado...

Whilst cooking dinner I thought about the things I could do with my two small pieces of lino I had. I settled on two ACEO sized prints, one of Peterborough Cathedral which I can't seem to get enough of lately, and one which would meet a brief set by a collaborative I am part of, roartalent. We had to illustrate a holiday we had been on, so I decided to do fish and chips (I ate a lot of it in Cromer, the seaside town we went to).


I bought this tray for £1! Look how well it serves as somewhere to roll the ink! I'm pretty proud of my solution to the "no equipment, no space" hurdle.

 I started carving Peterborough Cathedral, and I suddenly remembered how difficult lino can be. My admiration for the lino artists increased, and with it my doubt in my own abilities. I forged on though.
Here are the first few prints. I'm just getting used to the amount of ink, and the amount of pressure to apply ('pressure' meaning either going at it with a clean roller, or pressing my hands on the lino with all my weight. Technical stuff). This is my Peterborough Cathedral print.

So, the inevitable happened. Three times, actually. I rammed the blade of the lino-cutting tool into my middle finger. And I know the bandage looks like a slight overreaction, but believe me I tried an ordinary plaster, and lets just say it wasn't doing its job. I made a lot of mess. But I had just the thing to cheer me up...

 Now for the fish and chips. I only have blue ink for now (in case you haven't guessed) but I'm looking forward to trying new colours. All in all, I'm pleased with tonight's effort: it's been a long time since I've done this, I've overcome shortage of space, shortage of equipment and shortage of non-bleeding fingers.
To round off I want to salute all the lino-printers out there who make AMAZING images that continue to wow me daily. I'm not there yet, but I will be!