lino cutting

The devil and figure overlaid weren't working as the two shapes were too different - and having the devil alone was too abstract and didn't make sense. I still want a devilish sense about the figure so I added red horns to the figure. I also added a boarder and more of a line of sight with a path to give the

This did work better but it still wasn't quite working - the ink wasn't transferring properly in bits, and the red horns didn't look good on top of the black. Also having each element as a separate lino made it really difficult to get the right composition and get the ink evenly transferred as it would dry in some bits before I had set it all down.
Having the separate elements was good before because I didn't know exactly how I wanted it to look, but now that I have a set composition it is quite difficult to get it right. So I went back to the lino cutting and made the same composition but on one sheet of lino:

I decided to add a much more defined path which lead off the page - making the composition less boxed in and less empty. With the prints earlier there was too much negative space - this was there will be marks transferred in the background which will give it more depth:

These were so much easier to make - there was no arranging needed except for the red horns which were a bit fiddly to get into place. I am pleased with these outcomes - I want to re-do a couple on nice stock. I am doing two more compositions for the book, this time I will thumbnail until I am completely sure and then use one sheet of lino.