Original Linocut Print - 'Hot Stuff' - red chilli peppers

Created for the Red & Blue challenge of Pressing Matters magazine, this print features the magic that happens when red and blue overlap. 

- original multiblock linocut print

- ink: oil-based Cranfield Caligo ink, Naphthol Red and Phthalo Blue. *please be aware that the finish may be slightly shiny in parts of the print - this is caused by the oil-based inks drying more slowly when they are overlaid. The inks will continue to cure but may feel sticky when your print first arrives - please leave it somewhere dry and airy for a couple of weeks. When framing, ensure that the linoprint does not touch the glass.*

- paper: Kent printmaking paper, off-white, semi-smooth, 190 gsm

- print size: approx 29.5 x 21cm (very slightly smaller than A4, so will fit a frame with an A4 aperture)

- paper size: approx 33.5 x 23.5cm

- signed and numbered. Unframed.

- This is a limited edition of 23. The blocks have been destroyed and no further prints will be made.

I design and carve each motif into linoleum before inking the plate and printing it using Albert, my giant Victorian cast iron manual book press. To make a multiblock linocut print, the design is split into layers which are carved into several coordinating traditional linoleum plates, with the image mirrored. All the plates and all the paper pieces have to be registered so that they print in exactly the same area each time. The first plate is inked up, registered and carefully covered with paper, and then put in the press. When this layer is dry, the process is repeated with the other plates until the key block goes on which ties all layers together to make the image. Depending on the number of layers, multiblock prints can take several weeks to complete. This print was made from 2 carved linoplates, with carefully carving to overlap blue and red to create the dark shadows.