Print Pals 2025 – LIONINTHETREES

I realised I had never shared any of the Print Pals prints from this year except for January, so I decided to put them all in one post. LOL

One of my goals for 2025 was to finally learn how to do reduction prints.

Reduction printing is when you print all of the colours using the same block. But with each colour, you carve away bits and pieces of the block to slowly create the image. It's a great way to get multiple colours, but the catch is that once you move onto the next colour you can't go back. I liked the philosophical nature of that, and the challenge it creates when it comes to printmaking and one's creative process.

I've avoided reduction printing for a very long time because I just felt like I couldn't figure it out.
But 2025 was the year in which I wanted to stop telling myself, "I'm too dumb to do this," and instead say, "I can learn how to do this."

I'm really proud of myself for finally figuring out how to do it, and it's definitely my preferred method of creating multi-coloured block prints.

I saw this post on Bluesky and decided to use it as inspiration for my Print Pals 2025 series.

Post from bsky user sarahmackattack.bsky.social that says: I'm proposing a #SciArt Challenge for 2025! Every month, make art of one of the animals that lives in your area. Post your work with the hashtag #NearbyNature2025 along with something you find interesting about them. Bonus points for organisms that most of your neighbors won't know live close by.

So every print I did this year was inspired by a bird I saw in the world around me during that month!

Linoblock relief print of a Yellow Throated Warbler done with yellow, turquoise, and dark blue-green ink.

Lino-block relief print of a Red Shafted Northern Flicker done with light blue, a coppery light brown, red, and a dark-red maroon.

Linoblock relief print of a Cliff Swallow done with light blue, red, and a blue-ish purple.

Linoblock relief print of an Anna's Hummingbird done with a pink, light green, and dark green.

Linoblock relief print of a California Quail done with browns and orange.

Linoblock relief print of an American Crow done with a golden yellow and black.

Linoblock relief print of an American Crow done with a golden red and black.

Linoblock relief print of an American Crow done with a blue and black ink.

Linoblock relief print of a California Scrub Jay done with a turquoise and blue ink.

Linoblock relief print of a California Scrub Jay done with a lighter green-ish turquoise and blue ink.

Linoblock relief print of a California Gull done with a turquoise, yellow, and dark blue-green

I ended up making September my last Print Pals design. I'll speak more on it in another post, but I've decided to make some big changes to my Patreon and that includes disbanding the Print Pals and Quarterly Coven of Crafty Cats (QCCC) tiers.

Any extra prints I have will be made available possibly in the next shop update (if I remember to add them)!

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all images and text unless stated otherwise ©SHIRLEY JACKSON / LIONINTHETREES