Monday 11th April - Oh no! Scheduling Error

Easter is this Sunday, and I realized I had 19 Easter cards I would like to send. I don't have any Easter cards at all. Oh. 

At first I wondered if it would be possible to make some deep theological reflection upon Easter if I reused the 2021 Christmas Cards which I still haven't recycled yet. You know, 'this is how it all began'.

I thought better of that plan, so, now for plan B.

I had spent a couple of days last week looking at Easter cards and pictures on the internet, and then started drawing;

This was quite time consuming to draw if one increases the scale, and my card blanks are about 12.5 cm square. The only way I was going to be able to make enough cards in time to post them on Tuesday or Wednesday, was to print them. I suppose I could have printed them off on the computer, but, Aha,! A chance to do some lino printing!

First I tried several drawings, all to scale;

I drew the design onto the lino, and after lunch took everything out to the garden to start cutting.

Cutting the design took most of the rest of the day. I needed a break after half an hour or so to straighten up. It was soothing and absorbing process, most of the time, once I got the rhythm back. You have to keep your attention on the job; I was discovering that once I had made a cut, the next cut would have to be slightly altered to take into account what had gone before.

After about an hour or so, I inked up some of the block and printed it to see how it was turning out... 

Eventually, around five o'clock, I finished cutting, and could make some test prints. I was using a small stamping pad, dabbing it over the surface of the lino, rather than getting out the printing ink and roller. I did some tests on sheets of paper, and also experiments with colouring the paper first. I should have let the paint dry before printing, but I was only looking to see if I liked the effect.

Finally I tried a print on a spare card; the right hand image on the card shows what it will look like, the left hand image on the same card was to check how to make it line up on the card.

Tomorrow I shall cover the table with newspaper, and my clothes with an apron (!) and set up a production line. They will need to dry, and hopefully I'll get them in the post first thing on Wednesday.