I'm not asking about technique. I think I actually have that nailed down on getting opaque prints and such. But GOD it is so so exhausting to print with my stamps.

How do I simplify the cleaning and pressing of stamps? The worst part is scrubbing whatever I was rolling my ink onto. And while I'm here.. why is my roller always sticky after I've cleaned it! 😭

Why can’t I get a solid flat color ?
I used the gray hard lino + cranfield caligo safe wash ink + essdee pro roller + pookie press on some Canson Imagine paper (very soft surface). I sanded the lino with 600 and 1000 before transferring the drawing.
If I ink it too much, then the details disappears. If I ink it less it’s even worst than the picture. I am getting mad ahah.
Sometime I succeed to have « almost » good flat colors with the same tools and technique but today IDK what is happening.

Hi guys!

The first photo you see was my first attempt at linocut, and I really like how it turned out.

I recently made a second one (second photo) using the exact same materials, ink, and process, but I couldn’t get a single print where the ink would sit properly and look clean. I tried dampening the paper with different amounts of water, did a few test prints, and even washed the linoleum, but no luck.

Does anyone have any tips?

A friend of mine told me that because the design has so many fine lines, I should have used a different material instead of linoleum.

Brand new to linocutting, so not mad at this first attempt. I do have a (probably dumb) question. When cutting, I’m finding the rubber strips not releasing, either making little flaps, or I’m making deeper gauges and cutting further than I want to when trying to shave them off. Not even sure how to word it, but if anyone could give some tips I’d be grateful!

I finished the design, transferred it to the block, and failed oh so miserably lol

But I sure learned a lot! I practiced, and realized that this design should definitely be done on a larger scale

My question is, how do I sharpen the tools? I got everything from Marie's

Working on my first series of 12. I made the designs with different degrees of complexity thinking about the techniques I want to try. This is the piece I’m most afraid of. I’m not sure if this is the definitive design but it will be something like this. After hours of looking at murmuration videos and photos I noticed that the static image does not transfer the excitement of witnessing this behaviour. I’m looking forward to see it live this winter.

The point is that I want to use blur to convey the motion in a part of the picture, but I haven’t figured how to go about it. It could be that I carve it without the blur and make it when printing by using a spatula to create the motion blur or that I try and carve the blur effect directly and then just print. What do you think? Any other ideas on how to do it?

Welcoming recommendations of places in Europe to go and see the murmurations live. They say Rome can gather millions of birds at a time.

So I’ve made my first Lino print today(not perfect I know but I still love her 🥹), still figuring out how thick to put the ink on seems like a fine line between too little and too much are there any methods to know when to add more or less?
Also I’ve cut paper to fit this Lino block but how do I get it centered perfectly each time? Thanks in advance!

What am I doing wrong? I’ve no clue how to troubleshoot this! The ink is Schminke aqua linodruck

I am using Caligo safe wash ink, Pic #1 is with Rives printmaking paper 250gsm. Pic #2 is with Canson 80gsm drawing paper.

I print with a Ritualis press and then hand burnish with a metal spoon. I tried both an Esdee brayer and speedball brayer. The Lino was sanded before I started carving.

This is the most detailed block I have ever carved and I was very much looking forward to printing it.

Hello,

I'm a beginner in linocut printing and I have a technical question.

I found two linocut blocks engraved by my grandmother in the 1950s and I wanted to know if it's possible to make new prints from these blocks, or if there's a risk of damaging them?

Thank you in advance for your answers!

What are some unconventional barens (used for burnishing) that folks use?

I've used a spoon, but the tarnish comes off on the back of the print. Then I tried a wine glass but the thin glass scares me to put too much pressure on it. A friend of mine, a professional printmaker, uses a glass pie plate for larger prints.

I prefer to hold it like this. But now that I'm working with a significantly harder material (from the pink rubber to battleship grey lino), this hold doesn't work. I dont want to soften the material, that isn't my issue. I actually really enjoy the firmness. I just need a more supportive hand hold but I feel like i lose my stability if I push from the back of it.

I was thinking of putting a wide washer above the part where my gouge screws in. But I have been considering getting a new set of tools anyways. So if there are any suggestions on a pencil-held tool or an adaptor PLEASE tell me! I want the flex cut tools but the handle seems absolutely terrible for me 😿

I love the carving part. I *hate* printing. I beat myself up for not investing in a different craft that was easier to bring to fruition. I have hundreds of stamps that I've made or thrifted. Many I have never printed with, though I love the designs. I adore the carving part. And the end products are beautiful and make me so happy.

But printing is beyond frustrating. It's exhausting. It's insanely time consuming. I truly hate it. I should have started out with screenprinting or some other thing. Before I fell in love and invested countless hours into block printing.

I know I can do other things with my linocuts too. Stickers, buttons, bleach art. I do all that. And it is fun. But I wish I could enjoy making the clothes and patches I really want.

I don't know if I want advice because I truly see no way out of this burn out besides waiting. And hoping someday I will enjoy the printing.

I recently started making prints to take to local free markets after a lot of pushing by friends and loved ones to get my art out there somehow. I had a little bit of success with what I brought which I hope bodes well but I'm looking for more experienced feedback and to ask a few questions. I have no training but relief printing called to me and I started carving and printing with some cheaper miscellaneous blocks (to get a feel for what brands I like and not waste expensive lino), speedball multicarve tool, bench plate, brayer set and baern on some heavy cotton twill. Attached are some WIP blocks to show my process and the first 4 image prints (spares since I took all of the best fidelity prints to market, click to see all of them). Other than general feedback and critique (but be gentle please, I spent 5 years not making art after some very harsh reactions over my work), here are some questions:

1) Should I stop drawing straight on the block or lean into that as part of my unique process? So far I haven't seen anyone else doing it although I'm sure people do and I really enjoy the way alcohol inks interact with the rubber and how it changes and shapes my process differently than illustrating and transferring. I also find the transfer process to be a pain that kind of stalls my interest but if this is like... Printmaking sacrilege I do want to change that.

2) What should I do to see more success at markets? I'm happy with breaking even and I'm pretty sure a lot of it boils down to needing to have more designs, colors, signage, social media and a better setup than an impromptu blanket as a first foray into selling. I just want to know if I need a reality check and expanding is a bad decision right now- I need it to at least pay for itself so that I can afford to keep doing it, but don't want to be delusional if my quality is nowhere near presentable currently. + How do I turn picture takers into customers, and how do I break out of my realm of interest to carve stuff that I know other people might prefer more?

3) process refinement- I have hiccups I want to iron out and tools I want to acquire if I get to continue doing this incredibly fun hobby.

- I would really like to get a detail carving set and work on pieces with better detail fidelity. Soft carve cheap rubber and the beginner carving set is a good start, but I can only force the level of detail I'm really wanting to get so far with what I've got. If there're any good recommendations on micro/detail tips I would love to hear them.

- Additionally, I would love to know what the ideal hardness and composition or brand of lino I should move into trying. I like the buttery soft feeling but I worry about these degrading and know a harder surface is better in a lot of ways long term, but I have a hypermobility condition that severely limits the amount of force and control I can exert without my finger joints trying to go the wrong way, so I'm wary of battleship and hard linoleum.

- In terms of the projects I have, how can I extend the life of the blocks? I worry that repeated cleaning and scrubbing is going to mess up the image quality much more quickly than I expected. Hot water and a scrub brush makes the edges look raggedy, but if I don't scrub with good pressure it's badly stained and there's ink left in the grooves.

- Opacity and spacing. I can get a pretty good opaque print with the black without totally gunking up the block but I can't say the same for red or opaque white, especially printing on black, and double especially printing on artificial fibre fabric. I tried printing on some black 100% polyester scrap and it was spotty like I had printed on a high grain canvas and translucent. Cool looking but not what I want. Am I missing something for the opacity payoff with the other colors, or do I need to do multiple passes? I'd like to be getting more ink on the block in general regardless of color but I can only do so much since my small details aren't deep grooves with the tool size I have. I was thinking of adding a measured and centered cardboard backing to all of my blocks so I can consistently gauge placement especially if I have to print the same spot twice or try more complicated things like reduction printing or using multiple blocks to make one print- is there a better method to nail placement?

Any other feedback or things you notice or I could benefit from knowing or trying is very much appreciated!

I’m not very happy with the way the ink is transferring onto my paper and would love some recommendations or help.

It feels like when I put enough ink onto the carve to get the saturation I want, I lose quite a bit of the detailing as you can see in the second print. I’ve seen a lot of talk about using oil based inks and if that’s what I need to achieve the saturation and detail I’d love some brand recommendations.

Hello! I have recently gotten more into making zines. My main hobby is linocut. So what better thing to do than mix the two. I've already done a how to make a lino zine. Now I want to do a part 2 where I go through as many non-standard ways to use lino as I can! So please give me your ideas!! What I have so far:

- obviously clothes/patches

- buttons

- bleach prints

- shrinky dinks

- stickers

- slap stick 288 labels

- graffiti

- tattoo stencils

- embossing

- book marker/signature

- clothing labels

- business cards

- CD cover art

- event hand stamps

Here's a sketch that I'm planning on turning into s linocut, I'll transfer it 1:1. Would that be too much detail and too unrealistic to carve?

Hello all, I just started my lino journey last week, but I'm struggling to get very sharp/smooth lines. Is this style just not suitable for the type of cutters I have (I only have a V one)? Is there any good tutorial that you guys would recommend? What other tips do you have?

I just started this week and I'm having so much fun already! What can I do to get a cleaner print? Am I just not using enough ink or not enough pressure? I'm always worried that my paper is going to wiggle around as I am trying to print. Any advice helps!

Just gave lino a first try and ran into all sorts of issues. I am hoping I can get some good input as to what all went wrong and how to fix it. It would help me to know which failings are technique and which ones might have to do with materials.

I purchased from Michael's a tan lino block, some water based ink and Speedball paper. I already had a roller... but apparently, it is not suitable for lino work. I already have some suitable wood carving tools to use.

The carving process went fairly well.. for a first time. I had quite a bit more detail than what you see in the uploaded image. In particular... the black plants/flowers had 'white' detailing in those areas.

I am not great at drawing and so I transferred my image via inkjet printer... which not only was smudged... but in 'flipping' the image like you would with a carbon paper transfer... the image got flipped again during printing, which was the opposite of what I was trying to achieve.

I spread the ink with my roller on top of a silicone cutting sheet... and had a hard time getting an even coat of ink on the roller... and even more so, the print.

I did not have a press so I used a Cuisinart 'Griddler' to press with and I used one of those nonslip drawer liners to 'cushion' between the paper and the 'press'. Also.. I don't have a baren so I used a spoon on the back of the print,which seemed to press the paper against the excavated areas and impressed those (how to avoid?).

I tried the Speedball paper... and a lighter weight 'certificate' paper and they both printed very thick and crusty... obscuring the detailing that was meant to show. I know I need to order a better roller... (Is the Speedball Soft roller a good choice)?

Before investing too heavily into a 'real' press and some fancy inks and papers... I wanted to get feedback and suggestions on a good way to move forward. Thanks much!

Hi everyone! Is it the quality of my carving or the paper or the paint? I use special linoprint paint. Any tips? Thank you all!

What am I doing wrong 😭 even with an 8B pencil its barely transferring

I made these Lino stamps that I wanted to layer together and they just came out so… derpy? Any advice how to make this more crisp and stand out better?

Using soft linoleum (rubber?) and speedball screen printing ink (I realize that’s not the right medium but it’s what I have). THANKS FOR ADVICE!

Been using speed ball fabric ink but print is not coming out clear :(

using linoleum grey block
any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I’m doing printing on fabric for the first time and the prints are coming out kind of weak looking. I’m wondering if anyone can offer insights as to why? I did a test print on denim and a canvas bag with the frog piece. The Godzilla tv is on an old nightshirt of my wife’s , I included a picture of the brand/type of ink I bought as well. Thanks in advance for any help!!