This is a hand made print of a linocut with the title ‘hedgehogs start to wake up at the end of February. This would make a great present for a wildlife lover, or for someone whose birthday is in February.

These hedgehogs are slowly waking up after a long winter hibernation. Yawning and stretching, they will soon leave their snug nest of leaves and emerge to find an early spring meal of slugs and snails. Our terrier often finds hedgehogs during his evening walk, and responds with a confused bark.

The printed area is 17cm x 27cm and the paper is 29cm x 38cm. It is printed in black oil based ink onto beautifully smooth white Japanese Simili paper. I used my tools to capture the texture of their spines and the softer fur on their faces. The darker hedgehogs contrast well with the lighter leaves. It is one of 12 designs from my Scottish Wildlife Calendar.

All of my linocut prints turn out slightly differently – depending on where the linocut is placed on the paper, how much ink is rolled on, and how much pressure is used to transfer the ink from the linocut onto the paper. This is one of an edition of 100 prints, and each print is number, titled and signed, all in pencil.