Last leaves

I'll keep this brief.

I had a couple more print sessions before starting the book cover, and left them to dry as I was embroidering. I have less than two weeks to decide how I will integrate these into the book, but in the meanwhile, I thought it would be worthwhile to at least post some photos of the process:

Besides reusing old stencils, I couldn't help myself and cut some new ones.

It's worth noting that, while the actual printing is intensive, I'd say coming up with the composition takes the most time, energy and focus.

I'm now starting to play around with compositions at my desk before going into the studio - only because standing and leaning over a bench for long periods of time is not great for my back and neck!

I really wanted to go for a very dark monoprint this time, as I had the intention of perhaps painting pastel colours on the opposite side. If this doesn't work out, I'd like to at least layer these prints with lighter, pastel prints.

Here are a few photos of the prints laid out on the dining room table. I'm cutting it very close as assessment is next week. You can see how large they are when spread out, but they'll collapse into the book - which is that little white rectangle resting on the chair.

And one more painted papercut: