Patterns in the Ivy

Printmaking and other artworks by Benjamin Becquet. I share inspiration bits on Stuck on Quiraing. Website ~ Mastodon

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My 2026 new year greeting card.

5 color reduction linocut.

Magpies are a perfect embodiment of the wonderful in the mundane, something I love to celebrate.

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Grass snake. Aquatint etching with roulette and burnisher touches.

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"The ridge". Monotype.

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"The Wind that shakes the Barley". Monotype.

A picture I tried to do as an aquatint last year, but failed miserably with the wind movement. Monotype is a much better (or at least, far easier) fit for it, with the ink wiping effect.

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Monotype, and two ghost prints.

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Monotype, and its ghost print.

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My greeting card for 2025. Hand-printed 5-color reduction linocut.

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Continuing my buzzard monotype frenzy. At this scale this technique is absolutely perfect to render the feathers of this bird. I can't wait to do more of them :D

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I've tried doing monotypes for the first time lately, mostly as a way to do more spontaneous things besides the extra-controlled burin and mezzotint that I practice most.

When in search of a topic to try, I just turned to my obsession with buzzards perched on fence posts, and let it go.

I really love the experience, much more than I expected, to the point that it's becoming a real series that I'm eager to continue.

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Some photos taken during the public opening of my workshop, earlier in the month.

My teacher side resurfaces really quickly during this kind of events :) Most of the people I share the workshop with hate practicing in front of a public, but I love it, at least explaining the processes and showing the printing part.

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Two days ago I learned of the death of Norman Ackroyd, an English printmaker whose work I admire and feel deeply connected to, for so many intertwined reasons.

This is a kind of homage to him that I made yesterday. Five hours alone in the workshop from blank plate to test print, trying not to overdo it, just letting it flow. I used an old sketch close to his favorite subjects and the same technique as his, aquatint only, although light-years away from the fantastic richness and subtlety he gave to this medium.

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Some pics of my first solo exhibition that I hanged up yesterday.

So great to see all these from the past 6 years shown together! Even if there's a lot of different techniques and subjects, it's getting a whole new dimension.

It's in Paris 5th arrondissement, in Bistrot des Artistes, until next Sunday. Yes it's quite short, can't wait to find a place for a longer stay next time :)

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Spending most of my free time these days framing prints to prepare a small (very small) exhibition. I'm having more fun than I thought, finding the right combos with all these second-hand frames that I accumulated along the years… So much for the consistency, but I think that's my lost cause :)

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Some brush pen and watercolor sketches of ~5 min poses made during life drawing sections in the past few months. Trying to keep things light and quick.

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"Mobbing". Aquatint etching on zinc, 30 x 20 cm.

An oldie from 2019.

I've been spending workshop days lately revisiting some fav old plates to get cleaner and more consistent prints (and using the little embossing token I recently made :)). I never gave enough love to this one at the time of its making, I'm happy with how it went this time.

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Juvenile grey heron I had a very close encounter with.

It was standing in the middle of the footpath ahead of us but didn't make a move as we approached. We didn't want to scare it, but as it didn't flee we ended up passing litterally one meter from it with extra care to continue our way. Amazing moment!

I know it's just anthropomorphism, but I love its introspective look in this picture. Probably it *was* scared even if it didn't show any visible sign. It didn't look injured in any way either, could have taken flight at any moment. I'm a bit puzzled by how it went, I just hope it wasn't a too stressful moment for the bird.