Linocut Printing.
Linocut printing is a very popular form of lock printing that consists of cutting away a slab of linoleum to leave an image that can be inked and then used to print on paper stocks or textile surfaces.
So why would you use linocut printing?
Linocut printing is a very craft-based form of printing which takes more time to prepare than it takes to actually print with it. The manual cutting of it makes the process a very customisable medium that the artist has full reign over. The uses of this method of printing consist of a huge variety including wallpaper, art, and many other uses which methods of block printing share.
Considerations:
Cutting:
In regards to the cutting of your linoleum, there are specific cutting tools that can be used to make the process easier, but anything with a sharp end can be used to an advantage of preparing this print method. When creating artwork to be linocut, it is always worth keeping in mind that at some stage or another the artist is going to have to spend a while cutting the lino into the shape/form desired. If this involves a lot of detail or delicate type-work then the artist must be willing to carve such details too.
The cutting is a permanent process, if any mistakes are made then it is the artist’s choice whether to carry on with the carving or start again, but overall there is no undo button for this practice.
Finally, using cutting tools on any surface with pressure is a safety hazard. Almost everyone who has ever done lino cutting before has had ‘the dreaded lino-cut finger’ where a carving tool has slid into the artist’s finger/hand due to carelessness or mistakes. A good way of preventing this from happening to yourself is to always keep your hands away from the path of the carving tool at the same time as always carving in the direction away from yourself.
Stock:
When printing with lino, the pressure applied to the stock if used in a press creates a very slight emboss. When choosing stock to print with, if you want the emboss then pick a heavier stock with long fibres. If not then choose a lighter stock to prevent the effect taking too much of its toll on the material.
Process:
When creating your artwork, remember it must be carved out later on so don’t make it too impossible. Scale it to the desired size and work away.
Once the artwork is completed, grab some tracing paper and trace your artwork with pencil and then turn it face down onto the lino slab and trace over the lines. This will create a slight imprint of the artwork onto your lino block. Once that is there, you can over-line that with a biro to make it clearer.
Now there is a template to work to the cutting can begin. With chosen cutting tools, you must carve away the lino that you don’t want to be printed very slowly and carefully to achieve precise results. Sometimes it can’t be helped to completely remove the background as some areas may slightly touch the stock and leave an imprint.
Once the entire lino has been carved and all that is left of the surface is the reversed artwork, this can be used to block print.
To ink the block, a brayer roller is used to roll the ink over the lino. To make sure it is an equal amount of ink being spread across the reversed artwork, lay a generous gutter of ink on a glass surface, pick up the ink with the roller and roll across the glass until you hear a wet hissing sound. This will mean the ink is equally distributed along the roller.
Either by hand or by press, the lino is laid on a surface and the paper is pushed on top of the lino creating an imprint, this is then put on a drying wrack and left overnight. The inking process can then be repeated until the desired amount of prints is achieved.
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