Colour lino block attempts

Attempts at the first layer of colour block lino.
I wanted to have a green background for the stem so used card but it really is too fibrous and comes away with the paint too easily so I used regular white paper.
This time I managed to get the roller to work - I rolled the paint until it had warmed up so that it was thin and even.
First two tries - the paint was a little too thin.
Next two tries - used more paint but still not enough and the paper kept sticking to the lino block.
Last two tries - more paint, rolled on several times to build up layers, printed and pulled as quickly as possible - much happier with these although still a way to go. I want to try other papers next to get around this adhering issue.

Multi block lino

For the multi-block lino prints, first I decided on an image I liked which happened to be a Japanese block print. I wanted to keep the image simple for my first try.

I sketched the flower myself by looking at the image as I wanted to size it up a bit from the original. I then traced around my hand drawn image so that I could reverse it and copy onto the lino.

I divided the image as the original was with background space and flower centre all in the same colour (block 1) and the flower petals in another colours (block 2). The third colour was created by using a coloured card to print onto - this was the negative space of the flower stem and outside of the petals.

I painted the ink on with a large paintbrush because of the previous failed attempts with the roller. The petals came out alright but I'm not happy with the rest of it. The trouble is keeping the ink out of the carved out space. I have a few ideas to try for the next lot.

Reduction work

My next step was to use the same lino cut but do some reduction work on it by taking some further lino off and creating a different image with it.
I carved some texture into the tree bark and that's about all I could do with the positive image.
Next will try multi lino blocks in several colours.

First lino prints

Here are my first lino prints.
1: I decided to use white paint on a coloured card background. The card was not mean't for the paint though and some of the fibres of the paper peeled away when I lifted the lino away. I used the roller to apply paint to the linoblock before printing but I think there was too much paint although I tried to thin it first by rolling out in a tray as directed - the paint had fallen just over the edges into some of the carved out areas. The paint didn't roll on to the lino block - it just pushed the paint across for some reason - not sure if it was too thick.

2: I tried to thin the paint further by rolling out in the tray more and applying to the lino block in the opposite direction (horizontally) in case it made a difference. There still seemed to be too much paint (bleeding into the carved out negative areas) and the paint was just pushed across the lino block rather than rolling it on flat - I don't know how to fix this. I do like the effect it has given though - looking like a landscape behind the tree.

3. Next I decided to try painting on the ink instead of rolling. This was good because it used less paint. I used a large brush to get the paint on fairly quickly before it dried as I didn't use too much ink - I didn't want it to bleed into the negative space as before. I like the effect this has created with the brush strokes looking like bark on the tree trunk. I created three images from the same application of ink like a ghost image.

4. I applied more paint in these two prints because the previous run didn't seem to have quite enough ink. I used a paintbrush again and applied the paint fairly quickly. Again, the ink bled into the negative space. Not sure what to do about this - these are 3mm lino blocks and I know that 5mm thicknesses are available so maybe I should try these and carve away more of the negative space so that this bleeding doesn't happen.

5. I wanted to do one more run of prints while I had the materials out so I tried applying the ink with the same brush to the lino block but this time by dabbing it on quite thickly and quickly. I printed onto thick cardboard. I like the effect this gave - a natural texture to the tree bark and the ink didn't seem to bleed into the negative space so much as the previous attempts.

With what I've learned here I will next try to do a print with more than one colour.

Linoblock

Ok, so I finally get to do something exciting with this printmaking course. I didn't particularly enjoy doing the mask making - it was too simple but somehow made complicated with the instructions. From the outset I had expected to be making prints with carved blocks like this.
So, sticking with trees I chose an image from my new book on Japanese seasons. I wanted the image to be simple and bold for my first linoblock and this was perfect for it.
I traced the image and marked it out in reverse on the lino.
I decided to do this one in 'negative' first so that once printed the image left would be the white space and the ink imprinted would be background.
The lino was so easy to cut - I enjoyed working with this very much and I was very pleased with the outcome.
Next I will show the images printed with this. 

Rolling on masks

 

Realised I had to complete the masking section before lino blocks.
I used the same fir tree mask I had made previously and cut out a thin paper mask with a knife. I rolled the paint but a bit too thin I think - the image wasn't very clear and I had to roll several times to get into the corners which mean't that the paint soaked through the paper and stuck to the card I had decided to use. I think this was mainly due to the card I printed onto which was quite fibrous.
Next I decided to create the same mask using an acetate sheet so that there was no problem with soaking and sticking of the mask to the card. I also cut this using a knife on a board to get a good clear image. I also used thicker paint because there didn't seem to be enough on the first image.
I was pleased with the clearer image and also the texture given by the roller with thicker paint, however the roller didn't roll as such - rather it just pushed the ink across the mask so maybe the ink was too thick afterall.
1. Materials and preparation.
2.  Image using paper mask, thin paint on card.
3. Thinly rolled paint.
4. Acetate sheet ready to draw mask onto.
5. Negative cut out of acetate sheet.
6. Image 2 with thicker paint, pushed across with roller.
7. Texture created by roller on image 2.

Lino block printing (thinking about it)

I am preparing to do the next step of this textiles design degree - I am gathering my tools and materials. I will create a print from lino but not sure what the image will be yet. I have the lino, cutting tools and paint but need to get some more different types of paper to experiment with.