Relief Printmaking - Linocut Sunflower

Learning Linocut

I have carved many an "art stamp" on Speedy Carve or other soft rubber surfaces to use as original art in my work.  

Recently I decided to step that up a notch and move into printmaking with carved lino.  This is similar to the linoleum that is used on floors, but works great as a relief print process.  There are many Youtube videos on the materials and process for relief printmaking so I won't go into a discussion about all that here.  But, I highly recommend both Belinda Del Pesco and Linda Cote Studio for great tutorials. 

The materials are really very few and this can easily be done without a printing press.

• Lino block (either mounted or unmounted)
• Lino carving tools
• Relief ink (regular acrylic inks don't work well because they dry too quickly)
• Brayer to apply the ink to the block
• Paper to print on
• Metal or wooden spoon, something to rub the back of the paper to transfer the ink.

That's it! Once you have your design carved you can print multiples and leave them with just the ink, or add other medium such as colored pencils, pastels or watercolors. 

I tried the process first with a couple of linocut designs (a cute primitive deer and a carrot) I found on Pinterest just to get my carving skills honed.  They turned out great, but I want to create original work.  

I had a photo of a sunflower that I used for a painting project so I converted it to a black and white photo and used that as my inspiration.  

My goal for this was to create a print that only picked up the highlights of a flower to define it's shape.  After a few tries of carving, doing a trial print, carving some more, another trial print, etc. I finally got it where I wanted it, the final size is 4" x 6".  (And, yes, I forgot to reverse it on the lino so it would print the same direction...lesson learned.)

Other than needing a little more ink or rubbing a bit longer, I really love how it turned out and plan on doing more flowers like this, I can't wait to add a touch of color, although the B/W is great!  You just can't tell it from my photo. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I would be happy to answer any questions about my process and would highly recommend watching videos from Belinda and Linda.  They have both been so kind in answering my many questions.  Thank you ladies!

More linocuts in my future and I am also working on a collagraph and in the planning stages for a reduction linocut. (More on that later.)  My appreciation for the work that goes into relief printing and intaglio has gone WAY up.

Thank you again!  And if you try a linocut I would love to see your work. 

Jan