New Prints and New Papers

Some time ago I have bought a few new papers to try with diversified techniques (from top to bottom): Fabriano Bristol Paper (Smooth), Daler and Rowney Pastel Paper Block, Schut Drawing Paper and Arches Watercolor Paper Hot-pressed. 

I have started to make some test with the papers, to see how they behave with different techniques, but I have not a complete piece with any of them. 

I can say the Fabriano paper does not handle watercolor or other water media (like watercolor pencils) very well. But seems great for graphite or pen drawings. 

I am finally done with the lino cut for my uncle's dog, and I am very happy with the result:

Took me a while to get all that fur completed carved away, but the patience payed off.

I used Caligo Safe Wash Relief Ink, so I can then apply water media do the prints. The possibilities are endless with these inks, since you can combined with almost any media, which is great!

Magpie Prints and another lino in progress

I have done a series of new prints from my magpie lino cut, decided to change a bit the background since I think it was too heavy. I'm quite happy with the effect.

Also, I started to work on a new lino cut, this one should be a reduction print:

I'm still unsure of which colors to use, but I will definitely go with purplish blueish tones. I still haven't use my Schmincke College Linoprint ink set and this will be a great opportunity to test it out. 

Mixed Media with Printmaking

Based on an old illustration I had done some time ago, I decided to make a lino cut and combine it with different types of media, mostly water media (watercolors, inktense pencils and graphitint pencils from Derwent) .

This is the old illustration I had done:

I used watercolors and a pen in sepia color. And here are some of the new prints:

Starting from the top to the right, the first one is an original done just in white  and black, the second one I colored with Graphitint pencils, the third one with watercolors and the last one with Inktense pencils.

I used Caligo Safe Wash Relief ink and was delighted with the results. The comes smoothly in the lino cut and makes very consistent prints. It's also great to combine with water media, since it tolerates washes of watercolor without bleeding. Needless to say, you must first let the ink dry completely before applying any watery media on it, but after that you can splash as much water as you want.

I particularly liked the effect of the combination with watercolor and will definitely use in the future mixed media projects.