I think I may have actually finished a painting. I spent two final sessions working on a couple of areas I wasn’t happy with, and have got as close (I think) as I can to where I wanted it to be.
This is exciting but also a problem, because now I’ve got to move on to something new, so I’ve been checking out the sketches I did at Avebury with a view to making a print of some kind. I’ve been loving the figure monotypes, but with the summer holiday coming up and the chance to work on a longer project, I thought it would be a good time to go back to linocuts.
I went back to the sketches I made on location and started to play around with composition by masking off areas. Next I sat down to make a new drawing – helping to remind me of the shapes and features of the stone. It also gives me thinking time; for me a large part of print making is problem solving, and the process of drawing allows me to start to work out how to use marks to capture the character of the stones.
I’m really looking forward to translating this into print. It’s been a while since I’ve used my beautiful Pfeil linocut tools; the whole process of carving a block and seeing the image start to reveal itself is really exciting. This should keep me busy for a while!
Kate Chappell 