The process of reduction linocut printing is very unforgiving. Once a slither of lino is cut it is almost impossible to put it back. The whole process goes in one direction. I approach this kind of printing in a certain way but there are many other ways to use the reduction method. I work through the tones in a design by printing the lightest first, through to the darkest. For each layer of printing more of the lino is cut away before being rolled with ink and printed back over earlier layers. This method is much harder to explain than it is to do.
It means I can sometimes have a variation in colour when printing a layer(either by design or accident)as long as I stay within the required tonal range of that layer.
These are 21 of the prints of an edition of 25. Winter Pinecone is a 6 layer print. They are all printed from the same lino. I started out with around 35 prints, some 'fell' into the logburner because of inky fingerprints etc. or they were rejected during editioning because they were misregistered (one or more of the layers was printed slightly in the wrong place).
Sometimes my prints are much more varied! This is usually because I'm not sure about which range of colours will suit a design best.
I find a lot more prints are usually discarded when I work as varied as this. Some printers think that there should only be one definitive version of a print. The otter print below is a good example. All three colourways have been popular.
Prints drying after the third layer
Finished prints drying. This is quite a small print for me at 26x18cm.
This painting from a couple of years ago was the starting point for the print.
