"The promise of summer" - an original handprinted wood engraving, inspired by the wild flowers found in abundance in our garden around March/April. My absolute favourite time of the year. And a rear end of a bumblebee 🐝.
 
Wood engraving is a form of relief printmaking. The image is engraved with very sharp finely-pointed tools into a mirror- smooth surface of an endgrain block (in this case - lemonwood). The surface is then inked up and the image is printed onto paper. I first use a press to print my wood engravings and then hand-burnish each of the prints with a teaspoon to get a crisper print. 
 
Handprinted in highly-pigmented oil-based ink in Carbon Black on premium printmaking paper Liber Charta.
 
Image size 8x10cm. Paper size is appr 16x22 cm.
Titled, numbered and signed in pencil.
A limited edition of 75. 
Because the image is inked and printed by hand, there may be slight variations in tone. 
Will be shipped flat, carefully wrapped in acid-free tissue, sandwitched between 2 sturdy boards and packaged in a protective envelop to ensure safe delivery. Comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Sold unframed and unmounted (please get in touch if you'd like to purchase a mounted print).