Linoleum Reduction Prints

I did this by organizing the colors throughout the print and balance them. For example as my darkest value I used a deep red, I didn’t use this color for large areas because that would over power and unbalance the other colors. I used the red as accents in many of the forms in the image. If I were to do this project again I would make sure areas I wanted to keep white were cut deeper to be sure it stayed white. In areas of the prints, some of the white areas were inked over.

I believe the most difficult aspect of this project was the actual printing. I struggled with aligning the linoleum and printing paper. While I was printing I found that I wasn’t good at aligning the paper to the print so I reversed the method and put the print on top of the paper instead. I immediately found this worked better which is why some of my later prints are much more aligned than others.

I liked the process of gelatin prints because I was capable of re-starting and getting rid of what I had done. I liked them because I could print so many at once and see a pattern of what I did like and what I didn’t like. By seeing this so easily I could change my process or the materials I used. Although I like the process of the gelatin prints very much and the outcomes if I were to pursue printmaking I would gravitate towards the monoprints with oil-based ink and a press more because I liked the outcome and how simple the black and white presents.