Struggling getting flat sharp consistent prints on this 3rd layer of a four layer reduction print.

– speedball water based ink
– Strathmore “printmaking” paper 120 gsm
– hand printing with a baren

At low ink levels, I get splotchy coverage even when really pressing down on the baren. Increasing ink increases coverage but at the same time turns textured and raised at the edges of details, knocking them out, and sometimes leaves little speckled sections that don’t print.

I thought I had a breakthrough by pressing much harder with the roller while inking the lino, but that worked much better for the second layer than the third. Adding the red ink in particular seems to speed up drying unhelpfully.

Should I ditch water based and go to a lower gsm paper? Or should I be able to get cleaner prints with this setup? Tell me your secrets!

#printmaking #printmakers #printmakingadvice #idontknowwhatimdoing