MAKING A LINO PRINT
When building this web page I was scratching my head trying to come up with things that may be of interest to you all.
It suddenly occurred to me just how often I'm actually asked what a lino print is !!!! You'd be amazed how many people order pictures from me on a regular basis and still don't really understand what it is they're buying.
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Let me take this opportunity to give you a brief introduction to the art of printmaking.
In this short guide we'll go through the basic steps it takes to create a 'lino print' and cover the tools and materials you'll need to get started.
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In its most basic form a lino print is essentially an image carved into a block of linoleum.
The block will then have a layer of printing ink applied with a roller, the rollers designed for this are called BRAYERS.
The next step in the process is to lay a sheet of paper onto your lino block, the raised areas of lino that have not been removed during the carving process will be transferred onto the paper once pressure has been applied.
There are various ways to apply the pressure needed to complete your print, In some cases a printing press will be used but in most cases those just beginning will choose to hand press using a tool known as a BAREN.
Another alternative is to burnish your paper with the back of a wooden spoon (simple but effective).
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Here are the basic printmakers tools,
Hand roller (BRAYER)
Set of hand cutting gouges for carving your image
Hand pressing tool used to print your image (BAREN)
Tube of printmakers ink
Sheets of Lino
OPEN
EDITION PRINTS
In this example we're going to be looking at an open edition print.
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An 'edition' is the number of prints produced from your lino block, as this block is going to be printed in a single colour and will only be carved once we can technically produce as many copies of our finished image as we like from the same block, This makes this print an open edition
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So here's the trick !!!
The picture below shows an illustration drawn directly onto a sheet of lino.
In order to create my print I would now remove any areas I wish to remain white on my sheet of paper (removing the negative space)
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Below you can now see the lino block with the negative space removed
The next step is to roll your black ink onto the sheet of lino ready for pressing, Apply a sheet of paper to your block and then apply downward pressure onto the back of your paper using a Baren.
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TIP !!!!
Its worth remembering that the image you have drawn onto your sheet of lino will be reversed once its printed onto your sheet of paper, if your design contains text it will have to be written in reverse on your lino block before any cutting begins.
Move around your sheet of paper and continue to apply pressure to your carved block, you can lift the edges carefully to check how well your work is printing.
The image below shows the finished image after being carefully peeled away from the lino block
OK so that really was a pretty basic guide, hopefully I managed to answer some of the questions I'm regularly asked by people who have no idea what a lino print is, I suppose there's still one big question I haven't answered and its the one that comes up most often......
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HOW DO YOU MAKE A PRINT WITH MULTIPLE COLOURS
AND WHY ARE THEY LIMITED EDITIONS !!!!!!!
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Well come and visit me again soon, my plan is to add new content on a weekly basis, I promise the answers will be here before you know it
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Thank you
Ant xx