SQUEAKY BINDERS
Underwater Otter
Linocut Design
6 Designs
Lime, Burnt Orange, Blueberry, Blackcurrant, Raspberry, Sage
Available as
Squeaky’s First Choice Illustrated Notebook
Our First Choice Edition handmade notebook contains all the ‘Underwater Otter’ illustrations with plenty of room inside for all your creative writings - makes a great gift too.
Squeaky’s Special Edition Illustrated Notebook
Our Special Edition handmade Notebook has a truly distinctive hard case cover containing all the ‘Underwater Otter’ illustrations and pages inside ready to be filled with all your lovely words.
Art Cards
6 colourful versions of my ‘Underwater Otter’ linocut print available as individual Art Cards with envelopes.
Art Cards Wallet Gift Set
A complete set of all 6 cards beautifully presented in a useful folding wallet to display on your desk.
The ‘ Underwater Otter’ Range.
Swimming playfully amongst the swaying waterlilies this charming design is sure to delight otter fans everywhere.
Inspiration and technique
Asian Short Clawed Otters
I discovered Asian Short Clawed Otters at the Tamar Otter Sanctuary. My first visit there was a delightful introduction to these charming creatures with some of the most endearing antics I have ever seen - I could have watched them all day long!
Juggling is a particular favourite pastime for them, did I say juggling? - Yes! With a few specially selected pebbles, they lie on their back passing them back and forth between their front paws - it is so impossibly cute to see.
Feeding time was another highlight. Their anticipation of a bucket of fish produced a very noisy chorus of extremely excited otters each trying to be first in the queue.
I’m so sorry and it’s such a shame that the sanctuary has had to close due to the pandemic - they did such good conservation work and we will all miss visiting the otters to watch their playful antics.
Design, Carve, Ink and Print
After the design has been finalised on paper and transferred onto the Lino/carving surface it’s time to start carving away the portions that create the negative space, leaving the otter, waterlilies and weed in relief. Shallower lines add texture to the fur and paws etc. But wait!! did I remember to invert the image at the start? - the printing process produces the mirror image - yes thankfully I did with this ‘Underwater Otter’ design, but there has been times… beware especially when using text in your designs.
Relief Carving Surfaces
Nowadays there are a number of materials available to carve relief designs. I have tried a few different ones myself but my undoubted favourite has to be traditional Lino. Other softer types are easier for practising your technique when starting out.
Wood is another classic material used to carve blocks and produces beautiful distinctive textured prints. Typical woods used include Japanese ply and magnolia wood.
Tools
Good quality sharp tools make carving a pleasure.
“He ran back to the river, after eating fish, he played with a rope of water twisting and untwisting out of a drain, trying to catch it between his paws and bite it as it pattered on his face and chest”
— Tarka the Otter - Henry Williamson