Living and working in London, RLH Prints’ work concentrates on bohemian and botanic themes portrayed through the medium of linocut. Protea is one of Rachael’s latest linocuts that she created in order to experiment with using colour blocks. The piece is a two-layer lino print showcasing the beautiful protea flower; a flowering plant native to South Africa that symbolises change and transformation.
Rachael initially sketched out the design on her iPad using procreate. “This makes it a lot easier to figure out how the layers will work together and makes transferring the design to lino a lot easier,” comments the printmaker. Both of the blocks were carved in approximately 10 hours, and were transferred to lino using the inkjet print and wood glue method. Rachael then created some test prints to make sure they were registered correctly.
She says; “The great thing about having 2 blocks is that you can play around with the colour in the background whilst keeping the bold graphic black for the detail”. Rachael was inspired to create earthy, organic tones to match the subject of the piece, so decided to print the background in terracotta and moss green. This print was then carved using her favourite Flexcut micro tools, inked up using Japanese rollers, and printed on her Hawthorn etching press using hawthorn relief ink.
“I deliberately made this block a diamond shape so that it could be used as a repeat pattern for fabric. My next project will be to print this protea design onto some linen,” concludes Rachael.
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