Richard Shimell

Richard Shimell is drawn to landscapes, complexity and trees in particular. Richard Shimell makes the most of his linocut prints by carving offcut pieces of vinyl flooring to leave a silhouetted tree image in relief.

Richard begins each linocut print by taking photographs and sketching from local Devon trees.

He then draws directly onto the vinyl in a soft pencil and pen. Each linocut plate takes weeks to carve. Richard Shimell uses lino-cutting tools to cut around every mark, and sometimes wood-engraving tools to make tiny positive marks in the lino.

Richard Shimell states:
“I usually make a second lino plate which is left intact to make a sky. I use a lot of blended rolls of coloured ink in my work, especially in the backgrounds and print the linocut plates carefully one on top of the other on the paper to build up the image.”

People love Richard Shimell’s amazing attention to detail, the way you can trace each silhouetted branch of the tree from its trunk to the tiny outer twigs. Richard’s trees always draw attention, his thoughtful titles, sensitive blended background tones and use of scenery in his printed layers creates a unique story for each viewer and a lot of admiration for his dedication and stunning homage to trees.