Almost Complete

Over the last few days I've brought the plate almost to completion. The third and fourth States are shown below. I'm still not happy that the foreground rocks are entirely convincing and still need some work on them. The fourth state is printed with Indigo Ink, warmed up on the sunlit side of the gorge with a touch of Burnt Sienna, experimenting with how the final edition will be printed.

3rd State. Imp' 1

4th State Imp' 1

2nd State

After a bit more plate work, I took another couple impressions of the waterfall print to check progress.The sky still isn't light enough and parts of the cascade of water down the fall need to be worked on especially on the lower levels. The cliff face on the right is still a bit too uniform in tone and needs to be highlighted more in the sunlight areas to bring it to life. However I am happy with the river below the fall which I want to remain relatively dark. The foreground rocks need to be better defined though.

First Impressions

After working the plate as far as I dared I took two impressions from it this morning. The image is still a little crude in places and needs some more work on it but overall I am pleased with how it is going. Used Dense Black ink from Hawthorn Printmakers Supplies on Fabriano Rosapina.

1st State, imp i

1st State, imp ii

Mezzotint

Its been a while since my last post but I've not been idle. I began work on a new mezzotint print and it's taken some time to get the image roughed out on the plate. There is still much work to do before I can bring the plate to the 1st proof stage but I now have all the light and dark areas determined.

The Bride - completed

Printed a final subtle dark on the print, just to add some extra modelling into the shadows.

The Bride

17colour reduction linocut, printed in 12 stages.

212mm x 149mm

Edition of 18

Printed on Fabriano Rosapina.

This lump of weathered gritstone stands on Bridestones Moor overlooking the upper Calder Valley. It stands around 14ft high, 9ft across the top but only 2-3ft across the base.

Nearly Finished

Printed the penultimate colour on the print. Just one more slightly darker tone to go now to put some added depth into the shadow areas on the standing rock.

Continuing the new print

The next stages of the new print, starting now to work on the tones on the rocks and finishing off the foreground grasses. Colours 7, 8, 9 & 10.

Colour 7

Colour 8

Colour 9

Colour 10

The tonal shift between colours 9&10 is quite subtle, with hindsight it might be too subtle. But I've already cut the block so its too late now. Another 2 stages should see the print finished.

New print and a new body of work

It is often said that familiarity breeds contempt, I am ashamed to say that when it comes to my own local area I am guilty of this. I have recently started to look anew at the valley where I live and grew up in . An area that for the last 30 odd years I have sadly overlooked and neglected when it came to inspiration for my own work. In part this has come about because of my daughter Carly's growing interest in photography. Seeking out local sites for her to explore and photograph has made me look again at the history and landscape of my local area, revealing some hitherto unknown and surprising riches. So this new print is in someways a new beginning, heralding the start of a new and in some ways more personal body of work.

This is the first 6 stages of the print.

Higherford Mill Exhibition

I spent yesterday over at Higherford Mill in Barrowford, near Colne hanging the Up North Printmakers exhibition along with Jamie Barnes and Pete Marsh. An enjoyable afternoon and we completed the work and tided up just in time for the opening and private view. The exhibition runs over two weekends; 8th and 9th and then the 15th and 16th September from 10-4 each day. A diverse exhibition of original printmaking with etchings, linocuts, woodblock, collograph, monoprints and mezzotints. Featuring the work of Jamie Barnes, Anita Burrows, Pete Marsh. Lisa  Moore, Julie Robinson-Southwood, Anna Tosney, Debbie Williams and myself. In a lovely setting in an old cotton mill nestling beneath Pendle Hill, converted into artists studios with an exhibition space in the centre.

Higherford Mill Studios
Gisburn Road
Barrowford
Nr Colne
Lancashire
BB9 8PL

The mill entrance

Jamie Barnes

Pete Marsh

Finished