Multi-block linoprint
An introduction to making a linocut in a variety of colours.
I’ve been away for a month and it’s been hard getting back into studying and printing. Using my sketchbook as a reference point I reintroduced myself to the sketches, marks and ideas that I had used in the previous two projects and looked for something that would again represent a sense of place.
Two sketches took my fancy, that of the pebble with seaweed and the sketch of the old pontoon posts in Cutmill Creek.
I couldn’t see a way to adapt the pebbles sketch to include overlaps of colour in any great depth, and also didn’t think that my novice cutting skills would be able to cope with lots of twists and turns and outlines, though the fronds of seaweed, as I had recorded them, could have made for some great textural marks.
Consequently I chose my sketch of Cutmill creek. Why? because it had more variables to interpret and I could layer posts, pebbles, birds, boats, shoreline and horizon in different colours and outlines to add texture and pattern.
Before I began cutting the lino I played around with colours, using felt pen on a rough sketch, mixing printing inks & extender to explore lighter colour, and looking at colour chips in https://coolors.co/ for combinations that I might want to try with the inks that I had to hand.
In the below example various amounts of white have been added to Phthalo Blue.
Likewise, below, various amounts of extender have been added to Phthalo Blue. I have tried to keep to the same amounts of white v extender using a small pallete knife as a measure.
Adding white ink to the blue gives a more solid, flatter colour. The extender gives the ink a lighter translucent effect.
Once I had cut my lino I experimented further and had the following results. The background layer in both examples is a mix of blue and white ink.
I’m not sure the images really come across well on my blog, but the top one has deeper, flatter colour in the top 2 layers. The bottom print hasn’t picked up the first layer of ink very well but I think this small experiment shows a difference between using white ink v extender. Flat and solid v translucent and lighter.
What I have become aware of since this experiement and while moving through my work, is that the printed ink has a different hue / shade where it transposes across different layers of colour. Preparing my work for assignment 2 I now wish that I had made more print examples using the same colour but in different shades and intensities. (My only example being the test piece that is in my sketchbook).
A point of reference – I have discovered ‘Interaction of Color’ – Josef Albers, while much of the book looks at the science behind colour and the text has gone over my head, there are some great examples of colour combinations and layers that show how colour can change in differing juxtapositions.
Cutting my Blocks
I didn’t follow the instructions in the course notes for drawing and cutting my blocks, they seemed a bit cumbersome; on a previous taster course at my local FE college I’d used a sketch and carbon paper to transfer the image onto each block. I decided that as I was comfortable with this way of working, that was how I’d move forward with this project.
I began by sketching my image and colouring each layer.
I decided to keep the pebbles area a bit ad-hoc. This meant that registration was easier but also that I could achieve potentially 3 different coloured pebbles, and extra marks, by not completely cutting way the pebble area from the lino. Similar to the mark making I’d made in my cuts in project 6.
Each seperate layer was transfered to tracing paper.
Lino, carbon paper and then tracing paper are layered and the drawn into.
On this layer the area outside the red carbon lines is cut away.
The 3 layers were cut and then each layer printed. The final layer was the hardest to cut, trying to achive narrow edges of linocut was a challenge and I will admit that a few are broken and cut through, but fortunately add a bit to the textures on the pebbles and posts. I did find the cutting process very theraputic and relaxing.
Registration
Before printing I looked at ways to register my prints. In previous exercises I have used a Jig of sorts. It’s basically a lino cutting board with strips of varying sized hardboard and layers of card (to build height) that I can use with varying sizes of paper.
The important thing to remember is always to note which sized strips have been used with which size paper. Ooooops!
For this project I also looked at using registration pins and a template board. The registration pins were taped to the board and then a corresponding set of pins taped to the paper. At first I found this hard to align, but then worked out that if I combined the position of the pins with a pencil template line for the lino plate and the paper size I could achieve a better registration as it made it easier to place the registration tabs on the paper.
After trying both methods my prefered registration method is to use the jig, however, I found that the template board & pins made for a more reliable printing process. That is if the lino printing plate didn’t move around. Grrrrhh!! which it did on a couple of occassion, stronger fixing tape required.
Printing
With time to spare before submission of this assignment (drying time available) I began to print using Cranfield safe wash oil based ink and three different papers, Fabriano Unica, Ho-shu, and my favourite to date, Zerkall. Looking back through my notes for this assignment I have noted that these are my prefered inks, but I do seem to struggle with the ink that comes in tins, very messy for some reason; and it shows on some of my prints. However, the ink that is now available in tubes and I find it a lot more user friendly, less mess.
As a general note on inks, I have used 3 types over this project, Cranfield, Speedball and Scola, and I’ve found that different coloured inks within each range perform differently. For example the Speedball lime ink is really wet and thin, the red is more tacky. The black of Scola is nice and thick and dry while the green is quite wet. The same applies to Cranfield where the darker inks seem to be more gooey and stick to everything, you think you’re clean for printing, but you’re not!
I typically had my normal printing issues, too much ink, not enough, messy fingers when I though they were clean. New issues included small flakes of lino on the lino / ink plate, especially as the lino became older and started to break up. I have learnt though that it is best to stick to the same colour palette as this would have led to less cleaning and therefore less damage. It’s also an idea to gently brush the lino with a household paint brush before inking.
Another issue was registration, using different techniques is a learning curve and I sometimes had problems with the paper or lino moving during the burnishing process.
Cranfield oil based inks – Alignment differences in the middle image were due to the lino not being in the correct position, however I do like the colouring that’s been achieved on the bird, yellow and orange. The pebbles have printed as I expected with differing colours and textures. In the far right image, agressive burnishing led to the lino slipping and paper moving.
Cranfield oil based inks – This colour theme was my favourite and the registration was better using the jig. I have also realised that the outline layer is slightly offset in places, but I’m sure that this is something that will never be perfect to achieve and indicates hand cutting and that labour of love.
Speedball & Escola water based inks. In the two red and green examples the background is too dark. The lime ink does have good translucency but is too wet and hasn’t adhered well to the backround. There is quite a bit of messy ink on the paper, picked up from the lino surround that has been cut away, some is fine and it adds a bit of texture to an otherwise blank area, these examples are just a bit too much I think.
Speedball & Escola water based inks. The colour combinations are definately better with the lighter background but that little rhyme ‘red and green should never be seen’ comes to mind! It could just be a bit too luminous for my liking. Again the left image is quite messy.
Speedball & Escola water based inks. In part 1 of this course I’d tried some mono printing on black paper, I liked the results and decided to try again for the lino print exercise.
My first test was just to see how the white ink worked with the black paper, I was worried that the water based ink would soak into the soft pastel paper and not give the results I was looking for. Also, (as written in my notes at the time) the outline layer was starting to disintegrate from excessive cleaning and cuts filling with ink that I struggled to remove, even with the help of a toothbrush; consequently the plate was starting to loose definition.
The result was (middle image) better than I expected, though the ink still disappeared a bit when used directly onto the paper rather than an ink layer. I did feel though that this helped tone down the lime ink, not so luminous! Additionally the black background gives a feeling of night time, above the horizon. Maybe I should have added another layer of colours as a background, or now as I have learnt source and use more coloured papers.
Consequently I have investigated a bit further and posed the question on the Facebook Group: LinoCut Friends. Does any one print on black paper?
Lots of interesting answers, discussion and examples of work. I made a list of some of the answers in my sketchbook and something to explore in the future. Interestingly some answers mentioned applying at least one layer of ink on the paper before starting, which in some way backs up my theory on the paper being too absorbent.
Review Project 7 – This project has made me think about and explore colour using different tools, made me look at my sketches and ideas in order to translate them to print and work out prefered methods of registration. It’s been a learning curve, but enjoyable at the same time. I did stuggle getting back into my printing after a months break, but it did show me the importance of having my sketchbook to hand, I could go back to my lovely memories from my coastal journey and use my sketches and notes to conjour up images and colours; the red, brown and green of the seaweed, the greys, yellow and orange-browns of the pebbles and the greens and blues of the foreshore and sea.
BILLYDOOPRINT1 