Woodcut prints
Hi I’m Nat. Here I am after finishing printing my big chameleons! A monumental task!
I’m an artist and wildlife fanatic! I exhibit my woodcut prints at the gallery. My designs are all of flora and fauna. I am particularly fond of creatures with a bit of attitude and often try to get lots of movement into my work.
I carve my blocks out of MDF using lino cutting tools. I call them woodcut prints because MDF-cut doesn’t sound right and MDF is after all made of wood fibres! The advantage of MDF over lino is that it is rigid and therefore allows me to do large blocks. I have a several blocks that are a metre long – like the chameleons!.
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I love the boldness of this medium. It’s quite graphic – never wishy washy – which appeals to me and I think helps generate a feeling of vitality in the designs
Most of my prints involve more than one stage of printing. Many of them are printed with an underlying light shade and a darker shade on the top which gives a two tone effect and a bit of depth to what is otherwise a very flat medium. This is achieved by painstakingly wiping away areas off the block after it has been inked up with the darker colour. I then have to place it precisely on top of a light print, a process called registration. Then I flip the block and print over together so the paper is on top of the block as I print with a marvellously technical piece of equipment – a spoon! I literally rub on top of the paper really hard. Often the spoon gets really hot and I suffer a lot from an achy shoulder! However this method gives my lots of control – and I would need a huge press and a lot of space to print blocks one metre long.
Individually hand printed
My method of producing each print individually like this means that no two are exactly the same.They are all what I call ‘original prints’ – seems like a contradiction in terms but the word ‘print’ in this context refers to a way of working rather than a means of producing copies.
I do however have very small ‘copies’ available at the gallery in the way of cards! These are another great way for people to be able to enjoy my designs.
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