In reductive relief, carving and printing go hand in hand: print, carve, print, carve - printing the lightest colors first and working toward the darkest, carving away the  already-printed colors the artist wants to remain.

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When the print is complete, the darker colors sit on top, with lighter ones showing through the carved areas.

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The groups of in-process photos on this page show how a print evolves color by color as it is printed.

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These prints have about

an average number of colors/layers of ink for me, but I've printed as many as 33 in "Taos Tonight and Tomorrow Morning."

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TOP

"Boca do Inferno" has 9 layers of ink, with all the blues printed first and the browns printed after.  

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An unusual feature is a layer printed from weathered wood, with the grain indicating strata of sedimentary rock and a knot representing a cave.

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BOTTOM

"Long Ago and Here Today" has 11 shades of sepia to create a timeless image of an American Southwest landscape. As variations of the same color, the sepia  layers here are printed directly on top of each other.

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The mostly white image near the end is a proof of the final stage, the single darkest sepia color.