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Oh my Godwit
Here are my latest linocut prints. They’re handmade, limited edition and inspired by some of the strange, gangly wading birds which can be found in special parts of the Fens.
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Black-tailed Godwits are very special birds, breeding in only a few places in the UK. I’m lucky that one of the best locations to see them is the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust nature reserve at Welney, not too far from home. To me, the godwits are graceful, charismatic, sometimes noisy and always interesting to watch. Project Godwit aims to give the godwits a helping hand, as their population is perilously low.
How I made the prints
There are lots of ways to make prints. For relief printing, you need a flat surface onto which you roll ink, and then you press paper onto the ink. You cut into the flat part to create your design.
I started off with my flat piece of lino, transferred my godwit design in pencil, and then started the process, cutting away the parts of the design that I wanted to stay white. I printed the palest colours first and after each round of printing, I cut away the parts of the design I wanted to stay that colour. It takes a while to get used to the technique but it works really well! I love seeing the design come to life as each shade of ink goes down.
Here are just a few pics from the printmaking process. You can see the white parts being cut away; the pale blue and green inks which were both printed at the same time; the prints with a few layers of ink complete; and the lino just before I printed the final, darkest layer. Not much left!
That’s all for now. I hope you like the prints. Next time, I’m planning to write about… buzzards. (This is Just a Buzzard, you know).
Katie