Tests, and testing a new method in the near future..

I have booked an appointment with an optician for this afternoon. ( After a lot of prevarication.) At this stage I nearly need to get arm extensions to read fine print....

... I guess I need to sort out my eyesight before the fishing season. I need to be able to see the flies to tie on the cast. :D
It may help my reading too, but these days much of that is done on the laptop, which is at a distance that is comfortable to read. I seem to be having never-ending tests for this and that so far this year. Check-ups for this, tests for that, it's time you had this checked etc.. old age is catching up with me :D

I fully intended to start work on a new lino cut this morning. But again I am prevaricating and having booked the eye test in Tallaght while I am there for the afternoon anyway for other tests it just doesn't seem worth while getting started on something that I'll have to leave. I am still deciding what I want the lino-cut to be. I have one or two ideas, but I need to be sure that what I do is suitable on the scale I am going to work, which is quite small. I am doing this by creating small simple paintings in flat colours. These then will be pinned up and left for a few days, until I decide which are more interesting and if they can be improved or not.
When I paint, I can rework the pieces. When I cut into a sheet of lino, that is it. No reworks available. I intend to keep a record of the process here, as it will also help me to clarify the difference in the work practices involved in this media for myself. While I have comfortably worked in lino-cut printing with one colour, and in a four colour work using seperate blocks, this is the first time I will use the reduction method.

The reduction method was much used by Picasso can be used to produce multi colour prints from one block, making the lining up process much easier. Each colour is printed in turn on the entire edition of the print before more of the block is cut away before printing the next colour. This is repeated until the there is very little left of the original block. This method has its pitfalls and needs planning but is an exciting way of making colour prints. The main disadvantage is that you have to print the complete run of the prints as you work. I will keep this project to a run of about 12 prints, If it works well, I may invest in a printing press rather than printing by hand as I currently do.