I did it! This is my first original lino print.
I can’t believe I did this! Ever since Art in Action I’ve been fascinated with printing. With the transfer of ink from a design onto paper.
At Art in Action I saw and met amazingly talented people who carved and printed the most exquisite prints and ever since I saw that I wanted to give it a try.
The other day, when I was in our market town, I stopped by the art store and bought a small piece of lino and some tools for cutting.
Of course what I wanted to carve is a lino cut which looks like this:
But I decided that might be jumping the gun a little…lol, so I drew some simple stylised seed heads on a piece of paper and drew that simple design onto the piece of lino.
Then I started trying the tools. Ok, let me tell you this: If you want to cut a piece of lino, DON’T BUY ART STORE TOOLS!!!
Those tools slip and skid and tear at the lino edge and you need the strength of Hercules to wield them.
It was only when Robbie gave me his utility knife that I really started to make progress. (There must be a source of good lino cutting tools for me to find)
But finally my printing block was complete and I was so excited to start the inking.
One thing’s for sure, lino takes a lot more ink to make a successful transfer than the metal blocks I was printing.
So, after a couple of tries, I think I got a pretty good print from my first ever lino design.
From concept to pattern to block to print. This was such a very fulfilling bit of work for me and now I really want to cut a bigger and more complicated design. 🙂
freeasthewind24
I love it. I can remember doing this in Art Class in high school.
Veronica
Hello Free as the wind. 🙂 Thank you so much. I didn’t get a chance to do this in art class. You must have had fun. 🙂
Jen and Tonic
Love these! Those lino prints from the craft fair are unbelievable.
Veronica
Hi Jen, thank you so much. Oh my gosh, you should have seen one woman’s printing block! It was a carved piece of oak about three inches deep and about three foot by two foot, and the carving was of a wind swept tree. It was the most amazing thing and I wanted that block as art, not the prints form it! 🙂
michellepond
Well done and thanks for sharing the experience with us. You truly are an inspiration!
Veronica
Aw thank you Michelle. 🙂
Linda G Hatton
I love this!! I’ve been wanting to try this on anything – a potato, an eraser, or even on the lid of a to-go box. Yours is the real thing. Thanks for the tips. How very cool!
Veronica
Yay Linda, found your comment! 🙂 Thank you so much. I remember making potato prints. So many great ideas, so little time. 🙂
haircrafting
Good Job Veronica! Looks great!
Veronica
Hello my haircrafting friend, I met you on Canada day, didn’t I? Thank you so much for your sweet comment and for stopping by. 🙂
Archita
Hello Veronica , This is wonderful. Very well done and thank you for sharing with us. 🙂
Veronica
Hi Archita, thank you so much. I really enjoyed popping over and reading some of your poetry; now I miss writing poetry. I’ll have to start writing the Sunday whirls again. 🙂
Sara v
I love this!! So interesting too–batik has always fascinated me as well–different process, I know, but still very interesting–Enjoy! Looking forward to seeing what else you create (as always) 🙂
Veronica
Oh my gosh Sara, I forgot that I batiked a prayer flag at A in A. I think that the reason is that I had a teacher who was completely uninterested and did stupid things like take the hot wax pen out of my hand and start marking my cotton to demonstrate where I was not satisfactory 🙁 . (You know how bad teachers can really put you off a project?) But I’ll write about that experience and show the flag if you like. 🙂
Martha
Just beautiful! A star is born. Hugs, Martha
Veronica
Aw Martha, thank you so much. 🙂
KathyB.
I remember doing this is art class in high school and I loved it ! I can see the possibilities now…being able to design and create my own stamps. Your lino is wonderful and thanks for the tip concerning tools. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to use bad tools.
Veronica
Oh Kathy I hope you do make your own stamps. My friend Nick Bantock made hos own stamps and some are really complicated and beautiful and others are hilarious. I love the ones he stamps his mail art with which say something like, “Rescued form Crash”, “Caution, pre-broken” and “Fragile (temperament)”. So many possibilities. 🙂
vastlycurious.com
OHHHH! I used to do this! It’s very rewarding work. Any color and pattern even on walls ! Nice work Veronica!
Veronica
Thanks Kathryn. I’d love to see more of your art work…hint, hint. 🙂 Hey, one year I found a roller stamp in the Czech Republic, which is hooked onto a paint feed and you roller a pattern on a wall like wall paper. I was fascinated with that process. Hmm, wonder if I still have that roller somewhere in Vancouver in some art supply box? 🙂
vastlycurious.com
I have one and I will have to go through my old photos and scan it. I love handmade wallpaper ! You will laugh when you see the early 90’s decor but I will look for it!
claudsy
Brava! Veronica. It looks good for a very first try, especially since you didn’t have proper tools. You can always try the internet for finding the tools you need. I hope you do a Celtic patterned frame print. That would look cool, too. Love Celtic patterns. Sorry, drooling here.
Veronica
Claudsy, that’s a great idea. I’ve got several books of Celtic patterns at home. Those are fascinating things to draw and much easier than they seem if using graph paper. 🙂
claudsy
I wondered if they wouldn’t do very well for borders on hand-drawn greeting cards, etc.
Veronica
I bet they would look fantastic. 🙂
John Yeomans.
The tools in your photograph are for scraper board or scraperfoil and are not intended for cutting into lino. The delicate edges are for light engraving. The tools needed are at http://www.essdee.co.uk and are either L5S or L5SB and are gouges designed for the purpose.
John Yeomans.
Veronica
No kidding John; I wouldn’t use them to whip cream! Lol. But read on! I’ve been spending a few days at the Oxford Printmakers cooperative and figuring out the tools which are best for me. But thank you so much for the scraper board info. Looks like a fun art for me to explore. 🙂 Thank you for stopping by with your valuable advice. 🙂