Hydrangea spike
I have two beautiful hydrangea paniculata trees (pinky winky variety if you can believe it) flanking my front door. I had never heard of them before the landscaper put them in, but now I think they are quite lovely. They flower late summer with a large spike at the end of a branch. Unlike the blue and pink hydrangeas that we are most are familiar with, the spike doesn’t fully flower out – I would say less than 10%. There are lots of seedy looking buds that never open. The ones that do are a soft pink and beige color. I clipped off a dozen branches last fall to dry and decided to use them as a linocut inspiration.
Colored hydrangea linocut
I like the linocut itself, but I am not sure I like the green ink. I wanted to use something other than the black, but I am feeling rather so-so about this color. Unfortunately, my inking palette is rather limited in this regard.
Jul 05, 2014 @ 11:27:53
How about a sepia or brown or burnt umber to change it up some. I wonder if you could splash several vibrant colors on the plate and have them intermingle? I know nothing about printing, but have seen multicolored linocuts, too. I don’t know how they do it. You do great at this.
Jul 05, 2014 @ 12:02:30
I might have to try brown, or maybe a mixed brown/green as you suggest. I’ll have to buy the brown though and add some yellow and red. I’m just not real happy with this green.