Origami Green Man

In an idle moment (tea break) during the cutting of the grotesques design, I was toying with the idea of representing various gargoyles and church figures using Origami. Having made the form for a basic face, I decided to see how it would print if I just ran a roller over it before pressing it onto paper. I was really quite taken with the resulting image but it needed a mouth! This was added afterwards using a piece of lino with teeth and lips carved into it. When I get another idle moment, I’m sure I will pursue this idea further! Watch this space…

Shouting At The World Print

Having taken the photographs of the various Lincolnshire Grotesques, I chose three that I felt were most appropriate to the theme of ‘Shouting at The World’ and drew them as a group. The feature that struck me most when I first saw them in situ, was how often the figures are depicted holding their mouths wide open. I exaggerated this by having one of them holding open another’s mouth. The lino prints were a three-colour image, the second layer being drawn into so as to allow the first layer to show through with some degree of texture. The final, detailed layer was intentionally fairly rough-cut, in keeping with the old, often crumbling nature of the figures.

Loose Ends?

I do feel I am now tying up a few loose ends with the Green Man theme. I am really happy with the way the digital drawings turned out, but still need to complete a Lino-cut I started some time ago. Whilst undoubtedly it will not match the precision of the digital work, it will have a certain “workman-like” quality to it, with all the little flaws and imperfections that a “real” print has. I’m pleased with it so far – let’s see how it turns out!

Green Man Print

I decided to return to the original drawing I made of a Green Man and use it for a Lino print. Having printed it onto paper, I again tried it on a t-shirt where I think it looks good. The ones seen here are red on white for a child-size shirt and black on khaki for an adult sized shirt.

Final Prints

The two print layers are now completed. I initially tried to produce a ‘clean’ print with no evidence of the cutting being shown. However, having made some mistakes at the inking stage, thus showing some of the cut lines, I decided to intentionally include them in the final print. As seen in the pictures, they add a certain, appropriate ‘feel’ to the final image, seemingly more organic. I am happy with the framed print.

Blocks One and Two

These are the completed Lino blocks for printing the Green man logo. The first will be for the red areas (or any other dominant colour) whilst the outline will be in black. Both are seen here in reverse, ready to print. I always take care to try and ensure the pattern left in my cutting is pleasing enough to be possibly included in the print.