_^11/09/2023

Printmaking with Lino Cutting

I’ve always wanted to try lino cutting and finally got around to it. Found a really cheap set and lino on Amazon and got to work. Initially, wanted to try something really simple, without much detail. Turns out, it’s not that easy. :^) The way you cut the lino is visually counter intuitive. The part you cut is the part that will be white but … It’s not a straight blade and cuts at an angle. The deeper you cut, the wider the line will be but you are cutting at the middle and have to keep in mind the depth of the cut. Not sure if I explained it well.

I might shot myself in the foot by buying cheap materials and choosing complex designs but I’m loving the carving part of it. My prints are a bit messy and spotty, for now.

Some notes if you want to try it out;

• Some of the lino is pretty hard to cut, especially if you are using a cheap set like me. Everyone suggests warming it up with a heat gun, hair dryer or your butt. :^) I placed my lino on a sunny window sill for 10 minutes and it was much easier to cut.
• Your design matters a lot. In my very uneducated opinion, you really can’t have a lot of detail. First, the cutting is complicated and second, the ink doesn’t really transfer well if you have a lot of small cuts where the ink can pool. You’d want to choose a design that is not monochromatic and achieves shading with lines.
• A breyer is a must. Transfering the ink with a brush or a sponge is not really an option. My brayer is uneven and has a high spot in the middle but it’s still better than a brush.
• There’s really similar looking products for wood carving and you might find cheap ones!

I will be posting my prints on this page.

I also recently I made a lamp shade, some bowls and two hearts out of paper pulp. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the results and find it very relaxing to do. Experimented with different ratios of materials, various paper fineness.

Notes;

• Blender is not necessary but it makes the material much easier to work with and the final product much smoother.
• PVA glue is not necessary but it makes the final product much stronger. I used some flour and corn starch as a substitute, worked pretty good.
• The pulp should have some water when you are adding the glue (or flour and starch).
• You can’t really roll it out like dough. If you are making a bowl, you have to combine the pieces by hand around a mold (another bowl, a balloon, etc.).
• Even with PVA glue, you can’t really make a thin layer. The material is not strong enough. I tried to make a lamp shade with a thin layer and it broke when I tried to remove it from the mold.
• If a relatively small piece breaks, you can fix it with some glue and paper or even paint over it with acrylic paint so it acts like a filler.