Eileen Cooper RA

Starting with a hand-proofed lino image that Eileen had made at home, I suggested that we create a lithographic version of the linocut by printing the separate blocks onto zinc plates in a greasy black ink, which I would process and print in colours on my offset press.

Capturing the language and detail of the original linocut blocks was surprisingly easy and very accurate. Eileen’s original proof had a soft and grainy appearance usually avoided by printers, but on this occasion but something we embraced here because it really worked with the image. We retained this quality on the plates and in the subsequent print edition.

Because we began this project during a pandemic lockdown, we began the proofing process using a mixture of phone and video calling, which we supplemented with frequent postal deliveries to exchange proofs and revisions. After a short but intense period of remote proofing, we homed in on a BAT print for me to match.

I loved how the original linocut language is maintained but the look and physicality of the lithographic ink films are quite different in feel to those of a relief print and I felt that this really added to the finished print which achieved a delicate, silky quality typical of the medium.