My hands down favorite printmaker is Angie Lewin. Her style and the techniques that she uses both appeal to me tremendously.

First I am drawn to her subject material, the natural world. She moves between ecosystems, capturing their complexity in simple black and white print layered on color blocks. In her book, Angie Lewin, Plants and Places, she shows her process. You can see the transition from photograph, to sketch to addition of watercolor, then on to the creation of the various print blocks.

Her style is bold, a result perhaps of the tools used, primarily wood engraving.  I’ve not tried wood engraving my self (but have been planning to try this product sometime soon). It seems to me that though you can get very fine detail, a thicker line works better when you are layering the blocks to build up the print (it makes registration easier if you have a bit of “wiggle” room).  This is me talking, Ms. Lewin is much more skilled than I’ll ever be and I’m sure the need for “wiggle room” never enters her mind.

She layers her prints perfectly adding color and texture in separately carved blocks. In her sketchbooks she paints a sketch of the print with watercolor to show where the color should be or alternatively, will sketch with black ink and add the color with watercolor after.

This month I am sketching flora and adding watercolor and ink details. This week I’ve let myself copy the prints of Angie Lewin to gain a better understanding of her style and to inform my own printmaking.

To learn more about Angie Lewin check out her website at   http://www.angielewin.co.uk/

Her amazing book can be found here.