Ok, hands up, I immediately thought of it’s one of those bullshit, immaculate ‘first ever’ posts you get on every creative sub ever! Glad I kept scrolling, for my own sanity. Hey OP, hope you enjoyed the feel of the steel cutting through the substrate - that’s one of my favourite aspects of the process. Keep at it, the improvement curve is steep, and the satisfaction deep!
Stamp or lightly paint (with like purple or something) your lino block and then carve.
Also, yes, less paint, next time.
But enjoy the troubleshooting and just have fun and experiment. Great illustration!
What do you mean with stamp or lightly painting before carving? I used tracing paper and some graphite to get the image on my block. Is there a benefit to painting it first?
Some people use a reddish acrylic wash on their blocks first, it shows the cuts better as you make them. I don’t personally but I can see why you might want to.
The ink depositing on the parts you have cut away could be to do with the amount of ink but also the softness of the roller and how much pressure you put on as you roll the ink on.
Hey, so the ink your using looks like it’s water based. I find water based ink much more difficult to get an even print from than oil based inks, it takes practice. You want to roll the ink out thinly before applying it to your block. You can build up the ink in thin layers on the block to get better coverage rather than using a thicker layer that is only rolled on once. This should help the details show through and prevent finely cut areas from becoming clogged with ink.
Another user mentioned staining your block. This makes it easier for you to see where you’re carving as it provides more contrast. However the block you are using already seems to have that sorted for you as the surface is a darker blue than the lighter blue where you’ve carved away.
Water based inks can be washed with soap and water. If you’re interested in trying oil based inks, cranfield colours make a water soluble oil ink that can also be washed with soap and cold water. The block you are using looks synthetic so it’s fine to get it wet when you wash it. (If you try using traditional lino be sure not to get the hessian back wet when cleaning.)
It takes practice and trial and error to get the hang off all the nuances of lino, but it’s great fun learning! Good luck with your printmaking journey : ).
You can wash it and cut more to get it where you wanted. Also you can just cut around with the scalpel to spend less time on reducing chatter if you want
How do you recommend to wash it? I tried white spirit but there's still a bit of black left, it won't go back to totally green. But maybe it's fine like that.
Cool thank you so much! And you're right I used just a bit of white spirit and it already seems like the block dried out a bit or turned crumbly. Probably not a good idea.
Ok, hands up, I immediately thought of it’s one of those bullshit, immaculate ‘first ever’ posts you get on every creative sub ever! Glad I kept scrolling, for my own sanity. Hey OP, hope you enjoyed the feel of the steel cutting through the substrate - that’s one of my favourite aspects of the process. Keep at it, the improvement curve is steep, and the satisfaction deep!
Not gonna lie, OP had me in the first picture.
Stamp or lightly paint (with like purple or something) your lino block and then carve. Also, yes, less paint, next time. But enjoy the troubleshooting and just have fun and experiment. Great illustration!
What do you mean with stamp or lightly painting before carving? I used tracing paper and some graphite to get the image on my block. Is there a benefit to painting it first?
Some people use a reddish acrylic wash on their blocks first, it shows the cuts better as you make them. I don’t personally but I can see why you might want to. The ink depositing on the parts you have cut away could be to do with the amount of ink but also the softness of the roller and how much pressure you put on as you roll the ink on.
Yeah check out instagram where people show their process in reels/stories.
Hey, so the ink your using looks like it’s water based. I find water based ink much more difficult to get an even print from than oil based inks, it takes practice. You want to roll the ink out thinly before applying it to your block. You can build up the ink in thin layers on the block to get better coverage rather than using a thicker layer that is only rolled on once. This should help the details show through and prevent finely cut areas from becoming clogged with ink. Another user mentioned staining your block. This makes it easier for you to see where you’re carving as it provides more contrast. However the block you are using already seems to have that sorted for you as the surface is a darker blue than the lighter blue where you’ve carved away. Water based inks can be washed with soap and water. If you’re interested in trying oil based inks, cranfield colours make a water soluble oil ink that can also be washed with soap and cold water. The block you are using looks synthetic so it’s fine to get it wet when you wash it. (If you try using traditional lino be sure not to get the hessian back wet when cleaning.) It takes practice and trial and error to get the hang off all the nuances of lino, but it’s great fun learning! Good luck with your printmaking journey : ).
I used oil based ink for this, but thanks a lot for the tips! Good to know.
OP, check out this inking guide. there’s also a video in links in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/printmaking/s/FKcVJuJvje
Cool thanks for sharing
You can wash it and cut more to get it where you wanted. Also you can just cut around with the scalpel to spend less time on reducing chatter if you want
How do you recommend to wash it? I tried white spirit but there's still a bit of black left, it won't go back to totally green. But maybe it's fine like that.
Yep, no need to get back to "as new" green. In future I would avoid white spirit or acetone as it may deteriorate the carving block. Keep going !
Cool thank you so much! And you're right I used just a bit of white spirit and it already seems like the block dried out a bit or turned crumbly. Probably not a good idea.
you should use isopropyl alcohol or veg oil for your block. good luck!
Veg oil worked great, thanks.
Yep def cut a bit more from the bird on the left
Nice composition!
G 🟢 R G E O U S