It's A3 sized, and I don't mind saying that I'm pleased with it. Of course, it's not a perfectly even covering of paint - it's sometimes a little dappled, in fact. But the outlines of the leaves came out a treat, even in the large leaf 'clumps'. I actually ended up using two rollers - one wide, one small. Looking for the oil medium, I actually came across a roller, having bought one earlier at the same time I purchased the lino itself. I used the larger roller to apply the paint, and the smaller to press it down without making a mess on the back! Here's a picture of my next sampler on paper, A1 size this time.
This time, I'm very pleased with it. The pattern is random enough, the gaps between the blocks aren't too evident, and those that were, I could partially paint over. I hoped that in the gaps made by the black spaces decorated with smaller leaves, there would be an illusion of distance. In fact, that's worked a little, and the denser leaves do look like a kind of foreground, but the more obvious... well, it's more of an effect than an illusion - the more obvious effect is a feeling of a breeze scattering the leaves. When I put the different sketches together to make the design that eventually became the block, I wasn't overly concerned with the fact that in the reference photos of the bamboo that I had taken, almost all of the leaves pointed downwards at varying angles, whereas in the design, they pointed whichever way they felt! Across this A1 sheet, I joined the blocks with further oil paint, though - and this is partly due to the help of a handy wooden spoon - filling in the 'dappled' spots in the black became less necessary.
The next thing was to find a nice, simple, plain fabric that was an acceptable green to use as 'bamboo'. After a quick trip out, I selected a few metres of dark green drill cotton. Not having a great deal of room to print in, I used a couple of large flattened cardboard boxes over an A1 drawing board to print with the (I suspected) far more porous fabric. I repeated the experiment on the drill.
It was obvious that I would have to find a stronger surface to print on! Ideally one that didn't show up every fold and valley! I would also have to work on applying a thicker layer of my experimental paint mix for a bolder print.
At this point, it would probably be wise to say why I wanted to make this linocut this way. That is, it doesn't work as a stamp, more to create a background. It shows the negative space around the objects depicted. I wanted to be very clever, and create a piece that crossed the genres, by using the blocks to make a kind of framework for the fabric painting that would be the focus of the material. With this in mind, I got out some plain scrap cotton in black to test the opacity of my new paints. Should the blocks slip, or some paint create a blemish, I would then be certain that the specialised fabric paints would cover any mistakes I made. I also wondered if it would be possible to water down the paints to achieve transparency, or whether I would need to buy a new set, in order to add more leaf 'clumps' to ensure more random 'pattern repeats'. Seen here is the scrap cotton, with a test of my new stencil, used with fabric paint, both painted and 'sponged' on, painted on boldly, then shaded with white, and painted more realistically, all on the same scrap!
I'm very happy with the central three clumps - they look very neat and clean. I'm also pleased with the way the sponge-applied paint (the darker green one, top row, second from left) created it's own fluctuations in tone. I like the look of the realistically painted leaves very much, but they are very... time intensive? Not entirely suitable for this project, for which I would like to make a design that could be used across the width of a roll of fabric.
However, the sampler applied with the sponge had very quick and interesting results. As the colour coverage is inconsistent at best, it's perfect for a natural subject. I could even apply different colours of paint in layers to embolden the colour of the leaves and blend them at random, for a wider range of shades. The paper stencil I made to transfer my design to the lino blocks was only on standard budget paper, so it wouldn't be too tiring on the fingers to cut through. It's not suitable for use with paint, of course - it'll get sodden! Perhaps, with the advent of one completed block, I can print a new image on some thicker card and cut it out. That way, I'll have a good, accurate stencil, which I can overlay on my prints if necessary. I'll go and try it now!
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