We’re proud to showcase a selection of reduction prints from some of the talented members of our community. A reduction print is made by creating a multi-coloured, layered print using a single print block that is repeatedly carved into and printed in single colours until the final look is achieved. Check out the projects below:
Heather Groves: Seal of Approval
Seal of Approval illustrates the concept that cats assume the role of master in our domestic domain. Here, Hector, Heather’s cat, is cat loafing; he sits slowly closing his eyes, contented, and cross-pawed as he approves of her efforts in the studio. The title is a play on the word ‘seal’ and references the personal seal, Hanko or dojang, typically used for official purposes and printmaking. The idiom ‘to give one’s seal of approval’, often interchanges the word seal for stamp, and so also refers to the process of relief woodcut printmaking and the small stamp traditionally carved of wood. For this reduction print Heather started with the red and moved through to the dark Prussian blue. She stepped back for the final reduction, and overlayed the first colours with a sombre grey. Heather comments; “This process of reduction printmaking gets you to focus, gets you thinking about what you want at the end but also leads to some quality opportunity to experiment. It’s a great challenge!”
Pernille Sand: Night Time at the Pier
Pernille Sand finds a lot of inspiration from her surroundings. She lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is a sucker for the city’s architecture; “the deliciousness of lines and curves really steals all my attention”. Night Time at the Pier is a lino reduction print of a place in Copenhagen harbour called ‘Kayak Hotel’. “The colours of the kayaks in contrast to the dark night just had to be made into a print,” says Pernille. The piece was created in a limited edition of 10 prints – 6 of them in the colour combination shown here.
Ineke de Vries: Tasmania
Ineke de Vries has been working on this woodcut reduction print over the last few months. It was a slow process with a lot of layers! The piece is inspired by a photograph that she took in Tasmania some years ago, intrigued by the bright orange colours on the stones. Tasmania is Ineke’s first woodcut print. She tells us; “This was a whole different way of working. To safe a bit of time I, at one point, sawed the wood in pieces. With wood this is an easy process. I love the structure a woodprint leaves!”
Karen M Waggoner: Nature and Art and Poetry
Nature and Art and Poetry is an original linocut reduction print printed with 5 ink colour gradients. The piece by Karen Waggoner features wild irises, with a Vincent Van Gogh quote deep within the soil. The quote is from a letter Van Gogh wrote in 1874 to his brother Theo Van Gogh. It reads “And then I have nature and art and poetry and if that is not enough, what is enough?”. This reduction print was inspired by a trip Karen took to Provence in Spring. Hiking along the Les Alpilles, she was inspired by the same landscape and raw beauty that Van Gogh painted over a century ago.
Caroline Erolin: Inner Worlds
Inner Worlds is a linocut print of a dolphin and her unborn calf, printed as a two-colour reduction print onto 145gsm Zerkall paper using Cranfield Caligo safe wash oil-based ink. Like most of her prints, Caroline’s first step was to draw out the basic design in her sketchbook. This particular design took a considerable amount of research to ensure the anatomy was correct! The first areas to carve out were those that would remain white, followed by printing the light blue, then carving out the light blue areas and printing the final layer of dark blue.
Idas Inkling: Rousseau
This piece is Idas Inkling’s second reduction print. Named Rousseau, it is inspired by vintage femme fatales, Henri Rousseau’s jungle paintings, and Art Deco fashion. The print aims to portray the strength of all women, their fearlessness and ability to survive. Rousseau is a two block reduction print, one block being the key block, and the second block adding colour. It has then been mounted on a blind embossed background to complete the vintage feel. The design was printed on Hosho paper in oil based inks, and has approximately six layers!
C Staunton: Retreat
Retreat is a 9 layer mini reduction print 10 x 10 cm which took C Staunton six weeks to complete, and is inspired by the wood in Le Puy, France. She used the reduction technique to give this print depth reflecting the retreat into the woods. The image provides the viewer with the option to look out from a safe space or be in a space to find a moment.
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