Experimenting with Lino Printing

We do a Lino Printing Workshop every month, where participants have the opportunity to enjoy this technique, and to take a kit home so they can continue creating masterpieces. Therefore, we wanted you to have all the information you need to create beautiful printings at home. Here is a summary of the different steps you need to follow when using the Lino Cutting and Printing Kit.

We got this Lino Cutting & Printing Kit from our store, Botticelli, the cost was £20. It includes 5 Lino cutters (5 different styles), one safety lino cutter, one lino cutter handle, one aluminium ferrule, two linoleum blocks, two soft cut blocks, one practice piece, one ink roller, one ink tray, one safety handguard (which you should use), one baren cap, one baren base, one tube of water-based ink, two diameter printing stamps, one disc holder and visual instructions.

This kit includes everything you need to fall in love with this artisan printing technique. It is easy to use, and the instructions are in German Spanish and French, including photographs for every step.

Choose a Design

The first step is to sketch something simple and cute. You could also try to add words to the drawing. But keep in mind that words can be tricky when you have no previous experience.

We have chosen to draw a cat. Once you know what you're drawing, you can start adding new bits to the design, for example, adding words and other shapes to the background. Keep working on it until you are happy with the design, and then you can proceed to the next step.

Draw you design on tracing paper

This step is essential, especially if you have included words in the final design, so once you print it, it will look exactly as your original design.

We used simple shapes to draw the cat; therefore, it would be simple to cut. However, the words, if they are too close, then it can be a bit of a struggle, but with patience, everything is possible!

The design we did on the paper included a coloured area of the design parts that wasn’t going to be cut, to make sure that we knew what the negative space was going to be.

Prepare your lino block

This is the scary part! But this is why the kit comes with the safety handguard. If you don't use, you can risk a finger.

For this step is very common to change the design a bit. Feel free to improvise as you keep going. For example, in our case, one fish was enough and a bit of more decoration for the words, less tiny hearts, and a small shape for the corner, so it doesn't look empty.

Prepare the ink and start Printing

This can be considered the easier step. Just squeeze a bit of paint onto the inking trail, make some short strokes with the roller "lift it at the end of each stroke to avoid working the ink in the same places, coat it evenly all the way around. The ink makes a sticky sound when it is thinly coated" Essde instructions. Apply that ink evenly to your lino block. Once it's ready, place a piece of paper to cover the lino block. Make sure not to move the paper and apply some pressure to it with the baren's flat base.

Once you're happy with the printing, keep repeating the procedure as many times as you want.

Be happy with the final results

If you feel like experimenting, even more, you can mix the final result with other art material. In one of our printings, we added a yellow marker so that the design could have some yellow hints, and for another printing, we added the yellow marker and gold acrylic. We like the shiny effect on it.

It was just a small change, adding a yellow marker and gold acrylic, which made a massive difference in the final design. This is why it’s essential to experiment with it until you’re finally happy with your final design.

Conclusion

Lino Printing is enjoyable, relaxing, and the final results can be amazing. The advantage of this technique is that the design is ready in a block waiting to be used at any time. The block can be printed on any surface, such as fabrics, walls and glass.

The kit that we have available in our shop has everything you need to be introduced to the world of lino cutting and printing. Whenever you feel more confident, you can add more paints, designs and new surfaces.

Next time you can create a design with more details and add more inks to have more colourful printings. You can also print it on fabric, maybe a t-shirt with a beautiful design, or a beautiful greeting card for someone special.

We hope you enjoy lino printing as much as we do, be careful with your fingers.

Love, Botticelli team.