I've competed the first bluebell print. The registration issues mean that a lot more of the blue has been covered than I wanted so it's not so much a celebration of bluebells in full swing, more a hint that they might be on their way.
I really wanted to have the sun piercing through and obscuring everything but I think the sky is too saturated in colour around it. This is something I can play with for another print, a circle of blue around the sun would need to be rainbow rolled to really get the effect of the suns brightness.
On the final layer I added white to the three closest three trunks and the branches around the sun to fade them out slightly and I think this worked rather well.
I mixed up a deep green using a previous green mixed with the deeper blue used for the bluebells (I always save leftover inks and use them to mix the next layer - I think it gives a harmony to the colours to tweak previous colours into new ones). This gave a deep teal and I wasn't sure about it so after a couple of pulls I remixed it into more of a 'spring' green' for the remaining prints. Now seeing them next to each other I prefer the teal and wish I hadn't changed the colour! I was worried it was too dark and unrealistic for the green forest floor, but it actually worked much better for the print. Another lesson learned!
Overall I feel like this print has been incredibly hard won and although I've learned a lot of practical things making it I'm generally feeling very let down by it, it's meant to be about bluebells and that hasn't come across unless you look very closely which completely defeats the point!
The pressure is on at the moment because the application deadline for Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair is looming and I don't feel that I've got a body of work to offer yet. I'm so motivated to work but the work isn't to the standard I want it to be at and this is annoying me. On the other hand I feel like this is reminding me that I still have lot's to learn at not to get ahead of myself and that every print is a new exploration.
Next year when I want to tackle bluebells I'll revert to the choppy cutting I used last year, the same technique as I used for the grass, rather than trying to be clever and cut little pin pricks of colour more akin to the actual shape of bluebell flowers.
I still have the caustic soda version of this print on the go, and so remain hopeful that some bluebells might yet emerge!