WHAT IS LINOCUT PRINT?
Relief Printmaking
LINOCUT is a relief technique popularised by Matisse and Picasso in the 20th Century. In this technique, a thin block of linoleum is mounted on wood.
I then use a sharp instrument to cut away the linoleum. In contrast to the intaglio techniques, where the recessed areas are inked, only the higher areas of linoleum are inked and printed, not the areas that have been cut away. A piece of paper is placed on top and the print is obtained either by rubbing the back of the paper which I do with the help of a BAREN (made of bamboo bark and is used in traditional Japanese woodcut printing (or Ukiyo-e). The strong grain of its tough surface allows the artist to convey pressure firmly and efficiently to the paper) or a spoon or by placing the block and paper in a press. For every successive print the linoleum must be re-inked.
Bamboo Baren
Picasso first introduced REDUCTION LINOCUT in 1959. It is the method by which a multicolor print is pulled from a single block. The linoleum is inked up with the lightest color and the first printing is made. The areas that are to stay that color are then cut away so that no further printing will take place in those areas and the linocut is inked up with the second color. Generally this is opaque and overlays the first color, but if a blue is laid over a yellow (for example) the blue will take on a greenish tint. Alternatively if a greater degree of color mixing is desired a transparent medium can be mixed with the ink.
Carved Linoleum
This method does not allow much margin for error. The edition length must be decided upon after the first printing because after the first cut for the second color has been made, there’s no turning back. Neither is there the option to experiment with color combinations between the layers for the same reason. If an artist decides that they got the first color wrong when they try to lay down the fourth, it would be too late to change it. It would become more a case of adjusting the later colors to work with the earlier ones.
Detail of my Japanese Linocut print
Limited Edition Prints
• Linoprints/linocuts are produced as a limited edition. This means there are only a limited number of prints produced of any particular design.
• 2/25: The top number indicates the edition number print this particular image is, and the lower number indicating the total number of prints that have been produced within that ‘edition’.
• A small number (2-5) are produced outside of the edition total as artist’s proofs – A/P, these are prints the artist choses as being of high quality.
• After all prints in an edition are completed the linoblock from which the prints are made is ‘cancelled’ by damaging the surface of the lino so that the image may no longer be printed.
• My original linocut editions of each design are generally limited to between 10 and 60.
Although multiples of each image are produced, each is individually handmade, numbered and signed as of a limited edition.
Each print is an original artwork with small individual differences as each is individually made.
THE PROCESS
1. I hand draw a design that I then transfer in reverse on the linoblock using carbon paper.
Transfering design on the lino block
2. This is the drawing traced on the linoblock ready to be cut.
Drawing of the design on the lino block
3.The block is nearly ready, all the area that won’t be printed in black has been cut away.
Design cut away and block ready to print
4. I use water based block printing inks. The ink is applied using a polyurethane roller called a brayer.
Using a brayer to roll the ink on the block
5. All of the areas that have been carved away are recessed from the surface. When the brayer is rolled over these areas, the ink does not collect in the recesses.
Inking the lino block
6. Once the block has been inked sufficiently, a piece of printmaking paper is placed over the block . It is hand-pressed using a baren or and a spoon, which pushes the paper down onto the linoleum. The pressure forces the ink into the paper. The finished print is the impression that is made when this process occurs.
Hand-printing using spoon or bamboo baren
All of my linocuts are original prints. An original print is an image taken from a block or a plate that was conceived and created to be printed. Each image is developed with the idea that it will eventually be printed multiple times to produce an edition. The initial drawing and the actual block are just stepping stones, the matrices that lead to the resulting prints. Each time the block is inked and pressed, an original work of art is produced. And even if it is produced from the same block each print shows slight differences which is the proof of a hand pulled edition not a machine printed edition.
Please visit my Etsy shop by clicking on the link above left. Most of my prints are for sale through Etsy. But feel free to drop me an email if you wish to order directly from the artist.