The block is cut -

"Salt and Pepper (Artists' Proof)"
erasercut by Mick Mather
- click on image to view full size -

More than a few folks whose blogs I visit or make comments at same, are talking about printmaking. Lisa Sarsfield did a lovely cut of some teasel that I particularly enjoyed. A few months ago I, too, was cutting a block for the first time in years and today's post is the result using the reduction method to get a print with more than one color or hue. To reach this point you begin with a drawing on the block (see the original sketchbook drawing here) and begin cutting. After inking the block in black and laying it to a piece of hand-made paper I ended up with a white-line drawing (the white paper serves as the second color). Next the gray areas and a line frame were cut. The block was inked again with dark gray and, using a registration template, laid to paper a second time to get his three-color print.

Inside looking out -

"Look Through Any Window"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I'm about to engage in cutting a block. The object of the exercise is to make a new block-relief print, something I haven't done in well over a year. Toward that end, my current work is being tested and certain filters are now employed to give me a specific look. Today's post would make a delightful reduction block-print but the context in which the work is to be created has a strict deadline. It is therefor likely that I'll have to leave this particular image for another day. Well, back to work.