Give Way To Liquid Lino

So, my first ever linocut (not illustrated), apart from the one I did at middle school where I dug holes right though the lino, was a quick sketch of a fishing boat at sea. I made it up out of my head and it didn't take very long, and I did the pressing part with a spoon, but the point was just to see how it turned out. It wasn't great. But it did push the door open a little and the whole process of inking up and peeling off a print, amateurish as it was, was very exciting. I shall return. But the main effect was to make me look again at some linocut artists that I like and marvel anew at their ability to combine technical skill with an artistic sensibility. I struggled with one layer of black ink; Bernard Green, splendid Welsh artist, worked up to twelve layers and the results were tremendously subtle and complex:

Bernard Green, Evening Ffynonfaethog

I temporarily forgot Bernard Green's name and while I was desperately Googling "Welsh" and "linocut" I had a happy accident and discovered Ian Phillips who includes something very Japanese in his landscapes of Wales. His works shows the great vibrancy of colour, strength of form and surprising flexibility that linocut can have in the right hands.

I find these inspiring and daunting in about equal measures.