The Ballet Lover – From sketch to print
Category : My Artistic Journey
Date : September 12, 2016
- Looking at a few drawings from my sketchbook, a story was starting to form into my mind. I decided to combine them into a linoprint.
- I used tracing paper to work out the composition and transfer it onto the lino plate. I thought it would be interesting to create a light and dark contrast and have the figure almost in silhouette to emphasise the background (what she is looking at). So I carved out most of the background and left the figure almost untouched.
- The reversed illustration, waiting to be printed on paper.
- The test prints showed me that I had to work on my printing technique: the ink was drying very quickly and there was not enough pressure put on the paper to print all the areas evenly. I like the texture created by the lack of ink but I think for this particular illustration, the black areas (especially with the figure) needed to be almost fully covered in order for the illustration to read well. I also realised I wasn’t getting the amazement and magical mood I was after, so I decided to paint a background in inks and watercolours for the final print.
