Once upon a time, not long ago, destiny's calling ...

I've been wanting to tackle this project for a while now, and must mention that Lucy Lambriex' current parallel class "Peculiar Prompts for All-Round Creatives ..." definitely played a part in motivating me to finally take the plunge and start implementing it.

This is my very first attempt at linocut and I'm really happy I tried it out with Anna’s class. Printing techniques are so fascinating. For this project, I used a charcoal drawing based on a photo I took last year as my inspiration, and I am absolutely thrilled with how even poorly taken photos can turn into appealing projects through your own further creative editing.

(On the left: charcoal study. On the right: photo from early 2023.)

In my work, I added the moon as a symbol for the astrological moon node, which reveals our destiny in our birth chart.

(The linocut process. I started with Softcut set by Essdee, and Aqua Linoprint ink, Ivory black, by Schmincke.)

The concept behind the image, a blend of reality and imagination, holds immense meaning to me. On one hand, it's because of this specific crow itself, which I already have a strong connection with. On the other hand, it's because of its somewhat unusual posture, which instantly reminded me of my quest for meaning and balance in life, which I recently found a significant portion of in astrology.

As much as I cherish my image selection, bringing it to life was challenging and unfortunately, it didn't work out in the end due to to several proverbial "blunders": It was simply not feasible for me to accurately depict some stars in the night sky ...

(Test print on drawing paper on the left, and on sandwich paper, right.)

So, if you, dear Anna, or anyone else here, knows any advice, sources, or examples on how to create really cool stars in linocut, that would be greatly appreciated.

For this first linocut project, I actually got further than expected, certainly learned a lot from it and will definitely try again. If everything goes well, I would love to do it in a children’s book style like demonstrated in the class, maybe even with a "real" linoleum plate. And hopefully, there will be many more to come, but definitely more classes with the truly amazing Anna!

In summary, linocut printing process is incredibly meditative and in that, you easliy can get lost. It's addicting! However, it's important to not only focus on safety precautions but also take regular breaks! (In the first few hours, I was so immersed that I didn't realize how tense my hand and neck had become until I set down the tools). It may sound ridiculous but also always (!) double-check if the design has been mirrored correctly to save yourself from unnecessary work.

(Oops, messed up by forgetting to flip the pre-drawn image, so I had to clean the linoleum plate ... Initially with isopropanol, but dish soap is actually enough.)

 

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Thank you for taking the time and joining me on my journey of self-discovery and artistic exploration. Feel free to let me know what you think.