Creating a reduction linocut like the one pictured here takes many steps. At first, you carve away everything you want to remain white. Then, you print the next lightest colour - mixing the right shade of ink, rolling it onto the block, and printing each piece of cotton paper with that pale shade (here, of yellow).
Then, you consider what will stay this yellow colour, and what is destined to become darker? So you carve away the “to-stay-yellow” sections, consider the next darkest colour, and carry on.
At any step of the process, there is opportunity for change, both good and bad. A different colour can be mixed to enhance the final effect. A block can be knocked slightly off kilter, rendering a misprint.
A lot of trust is required, since you don’t know what the final print will look like for most of the journey. Below are the steps involved in this linocut.
