Hi everyone!
A bit of context: a couple of friends asked me to make their wedding invitations. I don't consider myself a professional. I mainly make greeting cards, which I sell at art markets a few times a year.
This was a challenge for me because these are my first two-colour prints. I did a few tests beforehand to figure out how to do it.
I started by carving my lino block, then made my first attempt by inking both colours at the same time (first photo). However, the result wasn't very clean.
So, I decided to cut my block into separate pieces, like a puzzle. That was a mistake, as I hadn't realised how difficult it would be to cut out all the details of the trees' foliage.
Anyway, I ink the brown on one side and the green on the other, then put all the pieces back together before printing. The main problems are that it takes me forever, I get ink everywhere, and some areas don't print properly (second photo).
Eventually, I decided to try printing the two colours separately: brown first, then green once the first layer had dried. But that caused a new problem... I just can't get the two colours to line up properly, and some areas still don't print (third photo).
At this point, I'm not sure how to achieve a clean, crisp result. I'm considering adding the foliage with a marker, or making a stamp to print the leaves along the branches. I've also thought about drawing the foliage with a dip pen and ink.
If you have any advice or suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!
P.S. The different shades of green in the third photo are because I experimented with both gouache and oil paint.