I’ve just finished editioning a 4-colour linocut of a unicyclist. He’s a kind of deformed clown and comes from a series of circus characters I’m working on with a book in mind. I wanted to make a multi-block print that was colourful and fun but had a handmade feel to it and had some interesting textures.

I devised a new way of registering the blocks which is similar to how I register layers in screenprinting. I printed the last block (the ‘key’ or outline) first onto clear plastic film which was taped to the registration paper.

I could then line up each block by looking through the plastic film with the outline image on and drew round each block on the registration paper.

Two colours…

Three colours…

Four colours…

The blue block was cut so the colour of the hat didn’t line up exactly, partly to give it a less fussy feel and partly to challenge that bit if me that always wants things to be perfect! I’m pretty happy with how it came out, especially the vibrancy of the colours where they overlap (the green is made up from the blue and yellow layers – there is no green ink) Now I have to start work on the rest of the series…

You can buy this print from my Etsy shop.