18.11.20 - Lino Cutting

 

Next week we are going to be trying linoprinting, so I have prepared a small square with a floral pattern based on a photo of mine, and I used a fine tool to etch out the delicate shapes and details. I made sure to always cut the lino away from myself as the tools are really sharp and can slip.

I got some thin paper and did some rubbings of the lino to get an impression of how the print might look, but instead of using graphite like usual, I tried with charcoal and then with oil pastels. The charcoal gave a very rough idea of the pattern but a lot of the detail got lost because of the softness of this medium and  its heavily pigmented nature. I think it takes the prettiness out of the flowers and reminds me of a blurred memory of a nightmare or dream, so it shows how the media can change how we read an image. 

Next I used a black oil pastel to compare with the charcoal and I don't think there was a very big difference in appearance, but it was much less messy so the shapes are a bit clearer and more defined. Since I preferred the oil pastel version, I used it to make a repeat pattern, and to me this takes the flowers from being something associated with the outdoors to something domestic like a curtain or wallpaper pattern, making me wonder why we appropriate natural imagery so much in the home - bringing the outside in - and whether its because we find peace in nature or simply because it is visually pleasing.

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