Reeled In, New Linocut with Four Swedish Fishes

It took a while to complete this print - I was moving studios, and in a length pursuit in finding the perfect paper to print on, one that both looks great and is easy to tear into the cut/tear into the sizes I usually work with.

Luckily, everything was sorted out and I have two new linocuts to show you, Reeled In and Trotty. I'll put some pictures of the making of the first one now, and then make another post about the bird print.

This print features four Swedish fishes: abborre (European pirch), alaska pollock/torskfisk (a kind of cod), sjurygg (lumpfish or lumpsucker) and gädda (pike). It started - as usual - with a pencil sketch. I've been quite happy with this A4-sized lino and I've been sketching on printer paper. I transferred the outline to the lino with carbon paper, then started drawing the details with markers.

Onto carving. I've been making the stamps during weekdays and carving linoleum over the weekend, so this usually happens on our coffee table.

Our fluffy friend has taken a special interest in this linocut.

After a few morning's carving, the fish completed is ready for proofing. I am rolling on a generous layer of the Caligo oil-based ink to get a nice rich black especially on the sjurygg. Look at the velvety ink!

Here's the first proof. I marked the places that need a little tweaking. This is A4 printer paper. 

Printing the final edition on handmade mulberry paper. It's very light but has strong fibers and beautiful texture. 

This metal postcard mobile has been very helpful for drying prints! I taped little paper pads on the toothy clamps to protect the printing paper. 

A close-up on the pike. 

So, here's the completed print! Blogger has been doing bad things to my photos' white balance and brightness and I've been thinking about building a Wordpress site that incorporates my portfolio site and this blog. If only there was 48 hours in a day! :)

Anyway, this is a limited edition of 10, all hand-printed and signed at the bottom with the edition number. You can purchase it in my shop; and in my next post I'll share the process of Trotty, a smaller print with a white wagtail.

I also post a lot of photos of what goes on behind my work on my Facebook and Instagram, so head over and perhaps say hello! :P

/Tian