Learning woodcut print techniques

This series of photos show the stages of a large (18 x 24 inches) woodcut print I am making. So far I have printed 8 colours on two plates, in 6 passes through the press. I expect to print at least two more colours. The photos below show both plates as they were cut and printed, as well as the print as it now stands.


This is the collage image I'm working from, blown up and printed on the computer printer for transferring the image onto the wood. I started printing 10 sheets of paper knowing that there will be mistakes. My edition is currently at 8 but might be as small as 6. We'll see.


This shows the first plate after it has been printed with the first colour of pale yellow. This same plate, without further cutting, was printed again with a degradez colour of pale green to pale brown.


This shows the second plate after it was printed with the third colour (light red).


This shows the second plate after it was printed with the fourth and fifth colours (dark red and light green).


This shows the second plate after it was printed with the sixth and seventh colours (dark blue and medium green)


This shows the print after it was printed 5 times (7 colours).


This shows the print as it stands now after being printed 6 times. The 8th colour is cream.


I accidently turned the first plate the wrong way and printed it upside down on my last sheet of paper. However, this mistake has given me some valuable information about what the bright shapes would look like if they were partially printed over. I have two more printings planned but I might add one more to alter the bright shapes a bit.