Hi Readers!!!
• This blog post will be about my first successful reduction linocut, titled Working Class. I want to share my experience with that process, but first of all, I want to tell you the story behind the print.
• It started with a request from Szabolcs Oravecz, the owner of the mighty Perfect Chaos Tattoo studio. He is organizing an exhibition called Hungarian Waves (it’s an amazing idea), and I got an invitation to participate as an exhibitor. You will see a lot of Hungarian tattoo artists’ work in that exhibition. We were given only two conditions: every art piece has to represent an Oriental theme and has to be made entirely by an analog method!!
• Life was so good to us, because in January my wife and I found a cat on the street; she was in very bad condition, so we adopted her. Living with a cat is a whole new dimension for me, in a good way, so the topic was half-given. In Japanese culture and in our home, cats are surrounded by great love and respect (except when she starts making very bad noises playing in the middle of the night... XD).
• So, I had the theme, but what should I depict? 🤔
• After a few sketches, I decided. They are always hungry... especially in the evening. From that point, I let my mind work; a few days later it became a design, and the lino work could start.
• In this case, I didn’t mess up the transferring, so I could start carving the first layer. Everything went really well and smoothly, which was suspicious. Carving the first layer took around 5 days, during normal working hours. The printing process went really well too. Suspicious again. I later realized I hadn’t chosen the best fitting method... One is always learning... They say.
• Printing the first layer took 3 days. The drying rack is limited, so I needed to print separately. But it went really well. Suspicious.
• After the first layer, the unknown came: I needed to carve the same lino block again. It took another 4 days to finish it. Of course, I found a few hidden mistakes in the first layer during this process — like I said, it was too suspicious. No problem, don’t look back, just forward.
• And then the day came: I needed to print again on top of the first layer. I was excited because this was the big reveal. If I messed up something, I couldn’t undo it, and a lot of work could go to waste. Guess what? It went really well, really. I made 70 copies. Today I’m going to pick them up from the studio and start checking them. I hope to have a 50-copy set out of those 70 pieces. Wish me luck!
P.S. I hope you enjoyed the post. If you want to get notified about new blog posts or the latest lino prints, subscribe to my newsletter. and look around to the shop also :)
Farewell, guys !
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