Linocut Experiment/ Development

Research

I looked into existing lino prints, I had decided to look into this as I felt that a lino print has a handcrafted and homely appearance and I thought that this might be appropriate for my homeware brand as my questionnaire results had shown that cost was one of the most important qualities and I think that lino may give the brand a more down to earth and affordable brand. 

(all images from pintrest.com)

My Linocut

I bought some soft lino, without the hessian back, this is because it is easier to cut out and I only wanted to create a simple small print. 

I began by using a drawing I had created of the fox digitally from a sketch I had drawn...

I printed this out and I then drew over it in biro, I then turned the image over and tried to draw around the lines so that they would print onto the lino, this didn't work however pressing onto the lino had meant the lines had made marks anyway and this meant I could draw around them straight onto the lino. 

I then used different blades to scalpel the lino and I made two different versions so that I would be able to see which worked better. 

I wasn't sure how to print the lino, I had had an induction before but it was a couple of years ago, however the process is pretty simple, all I had to do was get a small amount of the ink out of the tub, the ink is oil based and so it is very sticky and tough, you have to roll the ink out with a roller. 

Rolling the ink out with the roller you create a resvoir of ink, when the ink sounds like a small sizzle this is when the ink is ready to use.

You then use the roll and roll once over the lino, if there is an area you want to be perfect, you re-roll in the reservoir and go over this area, I went over the top half again horizontally. 

After this you take the lino and stock over to the press, put it in between newsprint, with the lino on the bottom face up, close the blankets, and put into the press. 

The ink takes around 24hours to dry, and to clean the ink you firstly rub with it with oil on a rag/cloth and then with soapy water, you might also need to use a special hand wash.

Prints

When I printed I chose two stocks, antique white and soft grey, I felt like these colours I may potentially use for my homeware brand.

The first print showed that the reversed fox at the bottom had a lot of lines left in the spaces and I had wanted to be blank, which I couldn't see from just cutting the lino. I printed on both stocks.

The second try at printing I had gone back over the lino with the lino cutter and removed some of the excess, I also made the lines thicker on the first fox. 

The third print I had gone further into the lino, especially the eyes of the lower fox. I was happy with this final print and I knew that I could digitise this and manipulate it.